11 May (NucNet): The Indian Point-3 nuclear plant in New York state safely and automatically shut down as designed following a failure of one of two main electrical transformers at the plant on 9 May 2015. The plant is in a stable shutdown condition and the cause of the failure is under investigation, owner and operator Entergy said. Following the transformer failure an automatic sprinkler system, along with onsite personnel, extinguished the fire. There was no release of radioactivity and no threat to the safety of workers or the public, Entergy said. The unaffected unit, Indian Point-2, continues to operate at 100 percent power. Entergy initially declared an “Unusual Event”, the lowest of four Nuclear Regulatory Commission emergency classifications, but on 10 May 2014 said the UE status had been exited. Indian Point-3 is a 1,040-megawatt pressurised water reactor that began commercial operation in August 1976.
