Seaweed Shuts Down Reactor for 56 Hours
A reactor at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station was shut down for 56 hours over the weekend when an intake screen clogged with a large volume of seaweed.
An unusually low tide was to blame for the thick mass of kelp and sea grass that clogged an intake tunnel at one of the station’s two reactors, spokesman Ray Golden said Monday.
The intake tunnels run more than a half-mile into the ocean and draw seawater into the plant to cool it. Each reactor generates up to 1,100 megawatts. One megawatt is enough electricity to power about 750 homes.
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