Fire Shuts Down Controversial New York Nuclear Plant

Paraphrased by:
Steve Waldrop
April 30, 2003

A fire damaged equipment in a non-nuclear section of the Indian Point 3 power plant and forced the shutdown of the reactor, according to sources. Indian Point 3 was shut-down within minutes after the fire was discovered in the insulation around piping for the main steam-powered turbine in the early morning hours on Tuesday. The fire was extinguished within the hour and no one was injured.

The cause was unknown but there were no signs of sabotage or terrorist acts, and no radioactive material was released, said spokesman Jim Steets of Entergy Corp., the plant's owner.

The other plant on the site, Indian Point 2, was already out of service, having shut down automatically because of an unrelated electrical outage Monday evening. The twin shutdowns completely remove Indian Point, the region's top producer of electrical energy, from the power grid.

Damage was visible on part of the turbine as well as the insulation. No time frame was given as to how long it would take for the plant to resume operations.

Since the terror attacks of 2001, many people living nearby have focused their fears on the Indian Point complex, which is located only 35 miles north of midtown Manhattan, as a possible target. Critics who would like to see the two plants shut down say the densely populated area could not be protected if radiation were released in a major accident or attack.

The fire was classified as an unusual event, the lowest of four levels of alert on a scale used by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.