Oyster Creek Condenser Tube Springs Leak, Repairs Made

Oyster Creek Generating Station is operating at full power after powering down to 90 percent due to a condenser tube leak.

“The leak itself is secured,” plant spokesperson Suzanne D’Ambrosio said. “Once the troubleshooting was completed and the leak was secured, we safely and efficiently put the plant back up at 100 percent power.”

The plant powered down to 90 percent early this morning when the leak was discovered, she said. Oyster Creek was operating at full power by 1 p.m.

“It’s something that we’re well equipped to handle on short notice,” she said.

Condenser tube leaks are not uncommon at boiling water reactor plants, said Neil A. Sheehan of the Nuclear Regulatoy Commission (NRC).

“They heat the water circulating through the reactor vessel, convert it to steam and than that steam flows to the turbine. which it spins to generate electricity,” Sheehan said. “Steam subsequently flows through the turbine and is then condensed back in the water. The water from their intake canal is pumped into the plant and it flows through thousands of tubes over which that steam passes.

The steam is then cooled and condensed back into water and is recirculated through the reactor vessel, he said. The water pumped in tubes is backed out into the discharge canal at a slightly higher temperature.

Sheehan stressed that the water inside the condenser tubes does not come into direct contact with the steam and water from the reactor coolant system.

“From time to time these plants develop leakage of these condenser tubes,” Sheehan said. “There are thousands of these tubes. When they do that, they have to make repairs to the tubes or plug them as another option.”

The tube at Oyster Creek was “plugged and secured for now,” D’Ambrosio said. The plant will later make a “complete and formal repair.”

“Oyster Creek is falling a part,” said Edith Gbur of Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch. “Every now and then, there are parts leaking. I think that should be a message to the public that the oldest nuclear plant in the country needs to be retired.”

at Oyster Creek, including its venting system, backup power, sirens, the emergency route and more, Gbur said. But the process will take at least five years.

“Although there are a lot of complaints, they’re constantly under review and really nothing is done to safeguard the public,” she said. “Everything that’s being said about Oyster Creek is not being accomplished because it’s all talk.”

Oyster Creek, the oldest operating nuclear power plant in the country, is owned and operated by Exelon Corporation. Exelon is one of the largest electric utilities distributing electricity to approximately 5.4 million customers and natural gas to approximately 486,000 customers. The plant will cease operation in December 2019.

Related Topics: Oyster Creek Generating Station, condenser tube leak, and nuclear regulatory commission