Florida Nuclear Plant Shut Down After ‘Control Rods Dropp(ed) Into the Core’

Operators of the Saint Lucie 1 nuclear power plant in Florida were forced to manually shut down on Aug. 13 when three control rods dropped into its reactor core, according to an event notification report posted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The mishap, which the NRC categorized as “non-emergency,” happened at 9:47 a.m. when the plant was operating at 100 percent, the report stated. 

“The trip was uncomplicated, with all systems responding normally post-trip. Operations stabilized the plant in Mode 3,” the report stated. “Decay heat is being removed by discharging steam to the main condenser using the turbine bypass valves and main feedwater. Unit 2 is not affected.” 

The Saint Lucie 1 shutdown marks the fourth time in two weeks that a U.S. nuclear plant has shut down without notice. The others, Millstone-2 in Connecticut, River Bend 1 in Louisiana, and Monticello in Minnesota, are all either back online or mostly online. All shutdowns were due to equipment or related issues. 

UPDATE, 12:43 p.m.: The plant is operated by Florida Power & Light. A spokesman responded to a question seeking more details by saying, “Unit 1 at our St. Lucie Nuclear Plant is currently offline after operators followed their safety procedures to manually shutdown the reactor. Our experienced operators are following their established procedures to ensure all systems are functioning as designed. St. Lucie’s No. 1 commitment is to the safe and efficient operation of the plant.

The plant is located on Hutchinson Island and began operating in 1976. Florida Power & Light is a subsidiary of NextEra, which is currently working to restart the decommissioned Duane Arnold nuclear power plant in Iowa. 

Florida Power & Light sends power generated at the plant to the larger Florida power grid. By law, the operator is required to report such events, like the Saint Lucie shutdown, to the NRC, which then makes the notifications public on its website.

Currently, nuclear power has been pushed as a key enabler of the growing power needs in the U.S. – particularly for fast and massive expansion of data centers across the country. At the same time, the Trump Administration is moving forward with cuts to NRC staffing and a loosening of regulations placed on nuclear power operators.

St. Lucie 1 is currently listed as being on “hot standby,” and generating zero power.

Plant operators notified the NRC under a federal law that requires notification of regulators within four hours of any condition or event which results in the actuation of a Reactor Protection System when a reactor is “critical.”

No other details have been released by Florida Power & Light or the NRC.