PPL Susquehanna Ends Alert After Stopping Freon Leak in Reactor Building

Published on Wednesday, 11 August 2010 01:09 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

BERWICK, Pa., Aug. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Workers successfully stopped a leak of Freon vapor in the Unit 1 reactor building at PPL's Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Luzerne County, Pa., ending the alert that had been in effect since Tuesday (8/10) morning.

The Freon was safely removed from a chiller in the Unit 1 reactor building and placed in storage tanks on site. Freon is used as a refrigerant in the air-conditioning system for the reactor building and provides cooling for plant equipment in the reactor building.

"While public safety was not at risk during this situation, entering the emergency management plan — which involves cooperation from many municipal, county and state agencies — ensured we had the resources available if needed to help protect employees and support the safe operation of the plant," said Miriam Mylin, spokeswoman for the Susquehanna plant. "We appreciate the support of those agencies."

Public safety was never at risk during the incident, plant employees remained safe and no injuries were reported.

PPL ended the "alert" declaration at 11:35 p.m. EDT on Tuesday.

The plant declared an alert Tuesday morning when employees detected Freon leaking in an area that contains plant safety systems. An alert is the second lowest of the four emergency classifications established by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for nuclear power plants.

Both generating units at the plant are operating at full power.

The Susquehanna plant, located about seven miles north of Berwick, is owned jointly by PPL Susquehanna LLC and Allegheny Electric Cooperative Inc. and is operated by PPL Susquehanna.

PPL Susquehanna is one of PPL Corporation's generating facilities. Headquartered in Allentown, Pa., PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) controls or owns nearly 12,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to about 4 million customers in Pennsylvania and the United Kingdom. More information is available at www.pplweb.com.

SOURCE PPL Susquehanna