US-based energy provider Exelon has announced that the unit 2 reactor at the Byron Nuclear Generating Station has been temporarily shut down, following a malfunction of the main generator cooling pump.
Operators at the nuclear plant manually shut down the reactor safely and are investigating the cause of the pump malfunction.
The generator and the pump are located on the non-nuclear side of the plant. Exelon’s Byron Nuclear Generating Station is located in Ogle County, Illinois, US about 2 miles east of the Rock River.
The nuclear plant has two units each with a power generating capacity of 1,168MW. At full power generation capacity, the two units can produce enough electricity for about 2.3 million homes.
During the shutdown of the unit 2 reactor, Byron Unit 1 will continue to operate at full capacity.