The US Indian Point nuclear power plant has been 'safely shut down', according to the company.
The move followed reports of the sound of an explosion and then smoke seen rising from the plant located about 65 km north of New York City, on the east bank of the Hudson River.
Witnesses raised concerns on social media, and several emergency calls reported a loud noise at the plant a New York police spokesperson said.
The witness said it looked like a black ball of smoke and that he heard alarms go off immediately.
Entergy Corp also used the social media platform to announce their emergency systems were triggered and unit three at the plant has been shut down.
CNN reported that a spokesman at Indian Point Facilities said a transformer on the non-nuclear side of the plant failed and caused the fire.
Sprinklers put out the fire and the reactor shut down automatically, CNN said.
The plant has two units, Unit 2 and Unit 3.
On Friday, Entergy returned the 1,031-megawatt Unit 3 back to service after shutting it down the previous day to repair a steam leak on the non-nuclear side of the plant.
US regulator says no high-level risk
"There is no threat to area residents," said Eliot Brenner, director of public affairs for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "They declared an unusual event. That's the lowest of our four situation designations."
An "unusual event" classification indicates a potential security threat or a possible "degradation of the level of safety" at a plant, according to the NRC website.
It also means there have been "no releases of radioactive material requiring offsite response or monitoring."
Share
