BUCHANAN, N.Y., May 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Entergy
personnel continue working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard and
the New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation to investigate and mitigate the
environmental impact of dielectric fluid on the river following the
May 9 transformer failure at Indian
Point Unit 3.
Entergy established a telephone hotline and email this week for
members of the public to share information about sightings of
transformer dielectric fluid. Potential sightings of the
fluid can be reported to 1-800-472-6372 or sent to
environment@safesecurevital.com. Members of the public are asked to
provide their name, phone number, the location of the sighting, the
date and time at which they first saw it, and any other information
that will help us locate any potential oil sheen. Entergy will
investigate reported sightings with its environmental response
personnel.
Preliminary estimates by the U.S. Coast Guard, based on data
from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, indicate
that about 3,000 gallons of dielectric fluid from a transformer
that failed at Indian Point Unit 3 have entered the Hudson River,
Entergy announced today.
The failed transformer held approximately 24,000 gallons of
dielectric fluid, which acts as an electrical insulator and coolant
inside transformers when they are operational.
Visual observations in the discharge canal and the Hudson River
have not indicated significant quantities of transformer oil. The
transformer oil from the failed transformer did not contain PCBs
(polychlorinated biphenyls). Further investigation and aggressive
recovery efforts at the site will continue.
Environmental personnel have conducted assessments of
approximately 25 locations based on Entergy, Coast Guard and NYSDEC
observations regarding potential oil sheens in the Hudson River and
have implemented the appropriate mitigation efforts at their
direction at a handful of those sites.
Entergy, which owns the plant, continues to investigate the
cause of the transformer failure and intends to announce its
preliminary understanding on the cause of the transformer failure
by the end of June.
In the meantime, engineers are working diligently to restore
Indian Point unit 3 to continued safe, reliable operations and are
in the process of installing a replacement transformer. Unit 2
continues to operate at full power and has been online for 430
continuous days.
More information on Entergy's response to the transformer
failure, along with photos of the transformer yard clean up and
transformer replacement, is available at
http://www.safesecurevital.com/transformer_update.
Indian Point Energy Center, in Buchanan, N.Y., is home to two operating
nuclear power
plants, unit 2 and unit 3, which generate approximately 2,000
megawatts of electricity and supply about 25 percent of power used
annually in New York City and
Westchester County. Entergy
Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in
electric power production and retail distribution operations.
Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately
30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including nearly
10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation's
leading nuclear generators.
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SOURCE Entergy Indian Point Energy Center