Pilgrim nuclear plant shut down for replacement of faulty valve

The Pilgrim nuclear power plant (Massachusetts) has been shut down while technicians replace a faulty safety valve. Plant officials said the plant will be powered back up again soon; they would not say precisely when. A spokesman said the shutdown, which began at 3 p.m. Monday, would last less than a week. Plant operators had been monitoring the valve, which is designed to allow radioactive steam from the reactor to escape into a containment vessel if pressure in the reactor gets too high. The spokesman said technicians had thought the valve would not have to be replaced until the summer, but they decided to replace it when it started deteriorating more quickly than expected. Because the valve is between the reactor and the containment vessel, the plant had to be powered down and allowed to cool.

Source: http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2007/12/12/news/news13.txt