Indian Point Unit 3 Transformer Liquid Discharge into Hudson Estimated at Approximately 3,000 Gallons; Hotline Telephone Available to Report Potential Oil Sightings

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May 22, 2015, 01:30 ET

BUCHANAN, N.Y., May 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Entergy personnel continue working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to investigate and mitigate the environmental impact of dielectric fluid on the river following the May 9 transformer failure at Indian Point Unit 3.

Entergy established a telephone hotline and email this week for members of the public to share information about sightings of transformer dielectric fluid. Potential sightings of the fluid can be reported to 1-800-472-6372 or sent to [email protected]. Members of the public are asked to provide their name, phone number, the location of the sighting, the date and time at which they first saw it, and any other information that will help us locate any potential oil sheen. Entergy will investigate reported sightings with its environmental response personnel.

Preliminary estimates by the U.S. Coast Guard, based on data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, indicate that about 3,000 gallons of dielectric fluid from a transformer that failed at Indian Point Unit 3 have entered the Hudson River, Entergy announced today.

The failed transformer held approximately 24,000 gallons of dielectric fluid, which acts as an electrical insulator and coolant inside transformers when they are operational.

Visual observations in the discharge canal and the Hudson River have not indicated significant quantities of transformer oil. The transformer oil from the failed transformer did not contain PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls). Further investigation and aggressive recovery efforts at the site will continue.

Environmental personnel have conducted assessments of approximately 25 locations based on Entergy, Coast Guard and NYSDEC observations regarding potential oil sheens in the Hudson River and have implemented the appropriate mitigation efforts at their direction at a handful of those sites.

Entergy, which owns the plant, continues to investigate the cause of the transformer failure and intends to announce its preliminary understanding on the cause of the transformer failure by the end of June.

In the meantime, engineers are working diligently to restore Indian Point unit 3 to continued safe, reliable operations and are in the process of installing a replacement transformer. Unit 2 continues to operate at full power and has been online for 430 continuous days.

More information on Entergy's response to the transformer failure, along with photos of the transformer yard clean up and transformer replacement, is available at http://www.safesecurevital.com/transformer_update.

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 and supply about 25 percent of power used annually in New York City and Westchester County. 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 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation's leading nuclear generators.

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SOURCE Entergy Indian Point Energy Center