Wolf Creek shuts down early
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Originally published 01:05 p.m., March 18, 2008
Updated 01:06 p.m., March 18, 2008
A malfunctioning electrical transformer caused a shutdown Monday afternoon at the Wolf Creek Generating Station and prompted plant managers to begin a planned refueling outage a few days early, according to an announcement from the Wolf Creek Nuclear Operation Corp.
Operators manually shut down the plant after the transformer stopped providing power to non-safety related equipment. All systems and equipment worked properly during the shutdown.
The transformer malfunction will be repaired.
“The plant is in a safe condition,” the release quoted Vice President of Operations and Plant Manager Matt Sunseri as saying. “... Since this event occurred just days prior to our scheduled refueling outage, we have decided to transition into our refueling activities.”
Wolf Creek was to begin its 16th refueling outage on Saturday.
The refueling and maintenance outages are conducted once every 18 months, in the spring or the fall, when demand for electricity typically is lower than at other times of the year, the news release stated.
Refueling activities are planned months and, in some cases, years in advance, the release said. Contract workers are brought in to assist Wolf Creek’s permanent work force. Outage work is done 24 hours a day, seven days a week, until the work is completed.
Wolf Creek’s owners — Westar Energy, Kansas Electric Power Cooperative and Kansas City Power and Light Co. — will use other generating plants they own or will purchase electrical power from other utilities while Wolf Creek is shut down for the outage, the news release stated.