Pump failure shuts AmerenUE’s Callaway nuclear plant, again
For the second time in three days, an electrical problem with a water pump led AmerenUE to shut its Callaway nuclear plant.
Missouri’s lone nuclear plant was manually shut at 5:14 p.m. Sunday because of an electrical fault in the motor of a condensate pump, AmerenUE spokesman Mike Cleary said. The exact cause of the problem was still being determined on Monday.
"It was the same issue, but a different pump," Cleary said. "It was not a safety-related issue; it’s just a technical problem. We’re doing some troubleshooting to find out what caused it."
Callaway was similarly shut down late Thursday after a problem with another of its three condensate pumps. It was restarted just before 3 p.m. Saturday and was running at 98 percent of capacity Sunday afternoon, Cleary said.
Condensate pumps move water to a system that converts it into steam for electricity generation. The pumps aren’t unique to nuclear plants. They also can be found in coal-fired plants or other plants that utilize steam.
The back-to-back shutdowns are noteworthy, not just because they were prompted by the same type of equipment failure.
Before a planned, monthlong refueling outage earlier this fall, Callaway ran for 520 consecutive days without interruption — the first such streak in the plant’s 24-year history.
Monday also was the day the Nuclear Regulatory Commission formally accepted AmerenUE’s application for a second nuclear plant in Callaway County. Formal acceptance by the NRC doesn’t indicate whether the commission will approve the project; only that the 8,000-page application submitted in July is complete and ready for evaluation easy fast payday loans.
AmerenUE applied for a combined operating and construction license to build a 1,600-megawatt nuclear plant next to the existing Callaway plant. The utility, however, insists that no decision will be made whether to go forward with the project until at least 2011.
The existing Callaway plant, 10 miles southeast of Fulton, Mo., began operating on Dec. 19, 1984. It supplies enough electricity to power about 780,000 homes. AmerenUE plans to apply to the NRC in 2011 for a 20-year operating license renewal.
Get more business news, blogs and opinionCleary didn’t know how long it would take to repair the condensate pumps or whether the plant could operate at a reduced level on just one pump. Even without the plant, AmerenUE has more than enough generating capacity to serve customers, he said.
"This time of year, (an outage) is not as significant as if it happened on a real hot day during the summer."
jtomich@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8320