Exelon Corp. shut down a nuclear power plant in Braidwood, Ill. about 60 miles southwest of Chicago Monday evening when the unit’s “turbine tripped offline,” the company said today.
The Braidwood Unit 1 shutdown will “not have an impact on Exelon customers,” the company said. The automatic shutdown, which happened at 5:04 p.m. Monday, remains under investigation.
“Although the cause of the shutdown is under investigation, initial indications point to a fault on a plant instrumentation system componenet,” Exelon said in a statement.
Exelon said parts will need to be replaced and tests conducted to make sure it is adequately fixed before Unit 1 is up and running again. The company would not speculate on when that would be.
Braidwood Unit 2 continues to operate at full power. With both units running at full strength, Exelon said the Braidwood Generating Station generates enough electricity to power more than 2 million “average American homes.”
