UPDATE 1-Dominion shut Va. North Anna 2 reactor due transformer

Tag : transformer

(Updates with company comment)
NEW YORK, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Dominion Resources Inc (D.N: Quote , Profile , Research , Stock Buzz ) shut the 910-megawatt Unit 2 at the North Anna nuclear powerstation in Virginia on Wednesday due to a failed transformer, aspokesman for the company said Thursday.
He could not say when the unit would return to service but notedthe company did not expect a long outage.
Electricity traders guessed the unit would return in about a week.
The transformer was one of three that transfer power from thegenerator to the grid. The company will replace the transformerwith another one on site, the spokesman said.
At the time of the shutdown, the unit was preparing to return toservice following a refueling outage. It was at 7 percent powerearly Thursday, according to a report by the U.S. NuclearRegulatory Commission. Nuclear reactors usually attach to the gridbetween 15 percent and 20 percent power.
The unit shut for the refuel by Sept. 14.
It last shut for refueling from March 18-April 23, 2007 and is onan 18-month refueling cycle.
The 1,834 MW North Anna station is located in Mineral Louisa Countyabout 50 miles northwest of Richmond. There are two units at thestation, the 924 MW Unit 1 and the 910 MW Unit 2, which enteredservice in 1978 and 1980.
Unit 1 continued to operate at full power.
One MW powers about 700 homes in Virginia.
In 2007, the NRC approved an early site permit for North Anna thatwill allow Dominion to build one or more new reactors and Dominionfiled with the NRC to build one of General Electric Co (GE.N: Quote , Profile , Research , Stock Buzz )/Hitachi Ltd's (6501.T: Quote , Profile , Research , Stock Buzz ) 1,550 MW Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactors (ESBWR) atthe site.
In August 2008, Dominion applied for a loan guarantee from the U.S.Department of Energy to help finance the new reactor.
If Dominion decides to move forward with the new reactor, thecompany has said it could enter service in 2015.
Using an industry estimate of $4,000 per kilowatt, the new reactorcould cost about $6.2 billion.
Dominion operates the existing station for its owners, Dominion(88.4 percent) and Old Dominion Electric Co-op (11.6 percent).
Dominion, of Richmond, Virginia, owns and operates more than 27,000MW of generating capacity, markets energy commodities, andtransmits and distributes electricity and natural gas to customersin 11 states. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by ChristianWiessner)