Unit 2 at the Susquehanna nuclear power plant near Berwick shut down automatically early Monday (6/29) when instruments indicated water had backed up in a drain tank on the non-nuclear side of the plant.

"The unit automatically — and safely — shut down when the turbine generator stopped operating because of an indication of high water level in the drain tank for one of the turbine's moisture separators," said Herbert D. Woodeshick, PP&L, Inc.'s special assistant to the president for Susquehanna. "All of the plant's safety systems operated as designed."

The moisture separator dries the steam leaving the unit's high-pressure turbine before it's used in the low-pressure turbine. The water that is removed from the steam flows through the drain tank before being returned to the reactor. Plant personnel are investigating why the incident occurred and will make appropriate repairs, Woodeshick said.

At the time of the shutdown, Unit 2 was being returned to full-power operation after its return to service on Saturday (6/27) following a short maintenance outage. Unit 1 continues to operate at 100 percent capacity.

The Susquehanna plant, jointly owned by PP&L, Inc., and Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Inc., is located about five miles northeast of Berwick along Route 11.