Washington nuclear plant to restart this week after shutdown

Washington nuclear plant to restart this week after shutdown

LOS ANGELES- A Washington state nuclear power plant is expected to be restarted this week after it was shut down when operators received a signal that a system was not working properly during a maintenance test, a representative said on Wednesday (March 30).

The Columbia Generating Station, Washington state's third largest electricity generator located in Richland, was taken offline on Monday so the system could be checked, public affairs supervisor John Dobken said in a telephone interview.

Control room operators were required to take the reactor offline according to procedure. "Basically everything worked as we expected it to during shutdown so we had no issues. We're in the process of getting things restarted," Dobken said.

He said the shutdown had not posed any safety issues and the issue was related to a secondary cooling system that cooled pumps and heat exchangers.

The Columbia Generating Station, owned by Energy Northwest , provides power to 27 public utility districts and municipalities.

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