The activation of a fire protection system required evacuation of a security control building at PPL's Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Luzerne County, Pa., Wednesday night (3/1).

The building is in a non-nuclear area of the plant, and is located about 100 yards from the buildings that house the plant's two nuclear reactors.

"One security officer was in the building at the time," said Miriam Mylin, public information manager for PPL Susquehanna. "The officer was able to leave safely and no other plant employees were affected."

The plant's fire brigade responded to the security control structure and found no fire in the building. PPL is investigating why the fire protection system activated, releasing halon and carbon dioxide gas.

The event did not require any action by the public, but the evacuation of a security building required the plant to declare an "alert" at 9:27 p.m. An "alert" is the second lowest of four emergency classifications for U.S. nuclear power plants established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

PPL has activated its Media Operations Center at the East Mountain Business Center just off Route 115, south of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The phone number is 570-831-6300.

The Susquehanna plant, located about seven miles north of Berwick, is owned jointly by PPL Susquehanna LLC and Allegheny Electric Cooperative Inc. and is operated by PPL Susquehanna.

PPL Susquehanna LLC is a member of the PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) family of companies. Headquartered in Allentown, Pa., PPL Corporation controls about 11,500 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom and Latin America.