PERRY, OHIO: Officials say two nuclear reactors in Ohio and Pennsylvania are shut down for repairs.
The Plain Dealer in Cleveland reports that the nearly 1300 megawatt FirstEnergy reactor in Perry, Ohio, was shut down earlier this week.
The plant is located about 30 miles northeast of Cleveland.
Automated valves in high-pressure steam lines at the reactor opened, sending scalding steam to a condenser, which turns the steam into water.
Officials say a 900-megawatt plant in Hookstown, Pennsylvania, that powers the regional grid was closed last week. That reactor is located about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
Federal nuclear regulators found that the reactor’s operators knew automated valves had responded to false temperature and pressure signals and that the condenser’s water would continue heating up until the reactor was shut down.