A $500 million project to replace steam generators at the Waterford 3 nuclear power plant in Taft has been put on hold while a manufacturing problem with their replacements is resolved, according to documents filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
This is the first replacement of the two 700-ton generators since the plant in rural St. Charles Parish came online in 1985, said Carl Rhode, a spokesman for the plant.
"They're reaching the end of their useful life," Rhode said.
Because the generators are inside the nuclear power plant's containment vessel, they are radioactive. Once they are removed, they will be stored in a specially built container on the plant site, Rhode said.
The generators work by creating steam with heat from the plant's nuclear reactor. That heat is used to create steam in a separate water system outside the vessel. That steam is used to generate electricity.
The problem with the generators arose at the factory in Spain where they are being built by the Spanish firm ENSA under contract with Westinghouse, Rhode said.
Part of a layer of stainless steel failed to bond with underlying carbon steel, causing cracks.
Fixing the problem means that the generators won't be finished time for the April turnaound, which will continue as scheduled.
The turnarounds, during which the plants are shut down, last an average of a month. But the generator replacement is expected to keep the plant offline "much longer," Rhode said.
The process involves cutting a hole in the containment vessel and lifting the generators out of the vessel, then lowering the new ones in, Rhode said. A section of the vessel was designed as a construction access port.
The plant's owner, Entergy Lousiana, is seeking a 20-year extension to its operating license, which would give the plant a lifespan of 60 years.