Repairs continue on damage vacuum seal at Miss. nuclear plant

Published 3:57 pm Friday, May 25, 2007

Work was continuing to repair a damaged vacuum seal that has idled the Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Plant since May 19, Energy Nuclear officials said Thursday.

“Repairs are going well. A seal is being replaced. It’s not a complex problem. The plant was shut down safety and there was no danger whatsoever,” company spokesman Tim Crisler said.

Crisler said while Grand Gulf is not producing any electricity, other plants within the Entergy Corp. system are supplying customers. Crisler said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is being kept up to date on the repairs.

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Crisler said Entergy officials would not speculate on when repairs would be finished and the plant restarted.

“The damage is not considered severe and should be cleared up shortly,” he said.

Completed in 1985 for $3 billion, the plant sits on 2,100 acres on U.S. 61, just north of Port Gibson, and provides about 25 percent of Mississippi’s electricity output. The plant has about 700 workers.