Millstone Power Station in Waterford was forced to shut down its 900-megawatt nuclear generator on Saturday after the station’s crews failed to fix a poorly functioning backup feedwater pump.
The reactor for the largest power facility in New England remained shut down on Tuesday afternoon, and company officials said the generator would be brought back online once repairs are made. The power station’s other 1,200-megawatt nuclear reactor was not impacted and remains operational.
The problem started earlier in the week when power station crews were performing a required quarterly test on a backup feedwater pump that sends in water to cool down the reactor in case of an emergency shutdown. The test showed the pump was not able to send enough water to the reactor quickly.
Per the rules of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Dominion-owned power station had 72 hours to fix the problem. When the repair didn’t happen in time, the reactor was shut down.
This shut-down Millstone reactor is the third largest power generator in New England, after the other Millstone reactor and the Seabrook Nuclear Power Station in New Hampshire. Because such a significant power source in the region is shut down, the New England power grid is increasingly relying on natural gas to meet the region’s power needs.
On Monday morning, natural gas accounted for 64 percent of all the power generated in New England. Nuclear was next at 22 percent, followed by hydro and renewables at 6 percent each, and finally oil and coal at 1 percent each.