News Release > Indian Point Unit 3 Returns to Service after $100M Refueling, Comprehensive Inspections, Bolt Replacement and Other Maintenance to Continue Providing Clean Power Safely and Reliably

Indian Point Unit 3 Returns to Service after $100M Refueling, Comprehensive Inspections, Bolt Replacement and Other Maintenance to Continue Providing Clean Power Safely and Reliably

05/18/2017

Investment reinforces commitment to continued safe and reliable plant operations through retirement in 2021

BUCHANAN, N.Y. – Entergy’s Indian Point Unit 3 nuclear power plant returned to service following its successful scheduled $100 million refueling, maintenance and inspection outage. Control room operators returned Unit 3 to operation this morning, sending electricity to the grid after a planned shutdown that began March 13.

"We will continue to provide reliable, safe and clean electricity to millions of New Yorkers for the next four years, in accordance with our settlement agreement with New York State," said Tony Vitale, site vice president and Entergy's top official at Indian Point. "Entergy continues to make the investments needed to ensure continued safe operation through 2021, as evidenced by the $100 million invested in the last two months on Unit 3 alone."

Among the items inspected were bolts on a removable liner inside the reactor. Specialists replaced 270 of these bolts and confirmed that the plates secured by these bolts remained structurally sound and functional. A similar number of bolts were replaced at Unit 2 last year following inspections of bolts on the liner in that reactor.

"Nearly 2,000 professionals, including 1,000 specialist contractors, performed hundreds of work tasks and activities that can only occur while the plant is shut down,” added Vitale. “Hundreds of thousands of person-hours of work were performed over the last two months to prepare Indian Point for safe, continuous operation for the next four years."

This was the second-to-last refueling outage at Unit 3 before its permanent shut down by April 30, 2021, under the settlement with New York State. Unit 2, which remains in service at full power and has been online for more than 300 continuous days, will undergo its final refueling and maintenance outage next spring before it permanently shuts down by April 30, 2020.

Unit 3 had remained online 96 percent of the time since its prior refueling and maintenance outage in 2015, generating more than 16.9 million megawatt hours of clean power, thereby preventing more than 7.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Since purchasing Indian Point more than 15 years ago, Entergy has safely delivered hundreds of millions of megawatt hours of virtually emissions-free power to the Hudson Valley and New York City, while investing more than $1.3 billion in safety and reliability improvements. Under Entergy's ownership, Indian Point has established an excellent safety record and ranks among the most reliable power plants in the state. Inspectors at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission placed the plant in the agency’s top regulatory column for safety following more than 6,000 hours of inspections in 2016.

On January 9, as part of the settlement with New York State, Entergy announced its plan for the early and orderly shutdown of the two units at Indian Point.

About Indian Point and Entergy

Indian Point Energy Center, in Buchanan, N.Y., is home to two operating nuclear power plants, Unit 2 and Unit 3, which generate approximately 2,000 megawatts of electricity for homes, business and public facilities in New York City and Westchester County. Indian Point Unit 2 began commercial operation in 1974 and Unit 3 in 1976. Entergy purchased Unit 3 in 2000 from the New York Power Authority and Unit 2 -- along with the permanently closed Unit 1 -- in 2001 from Consolidated Edison.

Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including nearly 9,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.9 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of approximately $10.8 billion and nearly 13,000 employees.

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Indian Point Energy Center’s online address is safesecurevital.com 
Entergy’s online address is entergy.com