Fire at Brunswick nuclear plant over the weekend

A fire broke out at Progress Energy’s nuclear plant in Brunswick County Friday evening.

We’re just learning about it today. Here’s the report it filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Power Reactor Event Number: 45796
Facility: BRUNSWICK
Region: 2 State: NC
Unit: [1] [ ] [ ]
RX Type: [1] GE-4,[2] GE-4
NRC Notified By: DREW STUBBLEFIELD
HQ OPS Officer: HOWIE CROUCH Notification Date: 03/26/2010
Notification Time: 23:31 [ET]
Event Date: 03/26/2010
Event Time: 22:45 [EDT]
Last Update Date: 03/27/2010
Emergency Class: UNUSUAL EVENT
10 CFR Section:
50.72(a) (1) (i) – EMERGENCY DECLARED
Person (Organization):
EUGENE GUTHRIE (R2DO)
BRIAN MCDERMOTT (IRD)
THOMAS BLOUNT (NRR)
MARY ANN (DHS)
DWIGHT FULLER (FEMA)

Unit SCRAM Code RX CRIT Initial PWR Initial RX Mode Current PWR Current RX Mode
1 N N 0 Refueling 0 Refueling

Event Text

UNUSUAL EVENT DECLARED DUT TO FIRE GREATER THAN 15 MINUTES IN TURBINE BUILDING

“An Unusual Event was declared at 2259 EDT due to a fire in the Unit 1 Turbine Building lasting > 15 minutes. The fire was reported by field personnel working in the Unit 1 Turbine Building Condenser Bay at 2245. Smoke was observed coming from the overhead but no visible flames were evident. The source of the fire was from electric blankets used for post-weld heat treatment. The fire was extinguished when the blankets were de-energized. No off-site assistance was required. The Unusual Event was terminated at 2310.”

There were no injuries and no damage to plant equipment. The fuel for the fire was tape that was used to bind the blankets together.

The licensee has notified State and local authorities and will be notifying the NRC Resident Inspector.