For the second time in less than a week, the Nine Mile Point Unit 2 nuclear power plant in Oswego County experienced an automatic shutdown, due to a problem at the plant.
The shutdown happened around 4:30 p.m. Monday. According to a spokesperson from Constellation Energy, which owns the plant, a worker "inadvertently contacted a highly sensitive plant component." As a result, safety systems shut down the plant automatically.
The plant was shut down last Tuesday, after an electrical equipment failure. The plant went back online Sunday afternoon, before shutting down again just 24 hours later.
A company spokesperson says Monday's shutdown is unrelated to last week's shutdown. Officials with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and New York state have been notified of this latest incident. It is not known when the plant will be brought back online.
NRC officials will hold an open house Tuesday, March 18, to discuss the agency's review of safety performance at both Nine Mile nuclear plants and at the James A. Fitzpatrick plant. The open house will be at the Oswego Town Hall, 2320 County Route 7 in Oswego.