Tom Content reports in the Journal Sentinel:
One of two reactors at the Point Beach nuclear plant remained shut down Friday after a problem surfaced as crews were restarting the unit earlier this week...
The Unit 2 reactor at Point Beach shut down on Monday afternoon because of a problem with the control rods inserting into the nuclear reactor. Rods are inserted into the reactor to stop the fission process during a nuclear plant shutdown.
But a test revealed the rods were not inserting properly. After determining this week that the rods could be fully inserted into the reactor, NextEra attempted to restart the reactor on Wednesday, only to have another problem occur that kept the reactor offline...
During the attempt at restarting the reactor, operators were moving control rods out of the reactor but most of the control rods automatically returned into the reactor, the NRC said...
Also this week, We Energies informed the state Public Service Commission that it has not finalized a decision on whether to buy more power from the Point Beach plant, which is expected to expand its output by 17% in 2011.
As a result of its decision, an electricity price increase proposed by We Energies to take effect early next year will be reduced by about $6.2 million, the utility said. An auditor at the state PSC said in a filing Friday that the increase is now pegged at $25 million, or less than 1%.
A public hearing on the rate case is planned for Jan. 6 in Milwaukee, Whitewater and Madison