P.M. BRIEFING : Seabrook A-Plant Closed Again

The Seabrook nuclear power plant has been shut down for the third time in less than six weeks, prompting critics to converge on the state capital today to call for the reactor to be junked.

Officials had hoped the $6.5-billion plant would produce its first nuclear-generated electricity early this week. But Seabrook spokesman David Scanzoni said that milestone has now been pushed back until late May at the earliest.

Ron Sher, spokesman for New Hampshire Yankee, the utility that runs the plant, said the reactor was brought to a halt Saturday night to modify a turbine on its non-nuclear side. He said the shutdown will last four to six weeks.

Roy Morrison of the Clamshell Alliance called the plant “a piece of junk” and said the shutdown is another example of why Seabrook shouldn’t be allowed to operate.

Seabrook, which was originally scheduled to begin operating in 1979, has been plagued by regulatory delays and cost overruns that drove its owner, Public Service Co. of New Hampshire, to seek bankruptcy protection in 1988.