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Palisades Nuclear Power Plant to Host Public Open House

April 29, 2013

Palisades Nuclear Power Plant will host a public open house on May 14 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Beach Haven Event Center in South Haven. Palisades representatives will be available to discuss various plant topics with the public.

“The purpose of this open house is to continue open communications with our local community members. We believe that our own employees are the best source of accurate information regarding Palisades operations, and we want to provide the opportunity to meet and interact with the nuclear professionals who work tirelessly to ensure that Palisades operates safely day in and day out,” says Palisades Site Vice President Tony Vitale.

Entergy Corporation, which celebrates its 100th birthday this year, is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation’s leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $10 billion and approximately 15,000 employees.

Palisades Provides Over $100,000 in Grants to Local Organizations in 2012

December 5, 2012

Entergy Palisades awarded more than $108,000 in Open Grants to 33 local not-for-profit and civic organizations during 2012, supporting local projects and activities that enrich the lives of residents in southwest Michigan.

The Open Grant applications are evaluated by a team of ten plant employees that assesses each project for its merit to improve educational opportunities for the young, quality of life for low income families and the elderly, and support for the arts.

Groups receiving $1,000 or more from the Entergy Open Grant program during 2012 include:

• South Haven Habitat for Humanity
• Liberty Hyde Bailey Museum
• Michigan Flywheelers Museum
• Junior Achievement of SW Michigan
• Covert Public Schools
• Van Buren County Historical Society
• Van Buren Intermediate School District
• South Haven Emergency Services
• Lest We Forget
• Bangor-South Haven Heritage Trail
• Covert Township
• City of South Haven
• Van Buren Conservation District
• Miles for Hope
• Tri-County Council for Child Development
• Heritage Museum and Cultural Center
• Hospice at Home / Lori’s Place
• Al-Van Humane Society
• Southwest Michigan United Way

Qualified 501(3)(c) organizations may apply for an Entergy Open Grant on line at www.entergy.com.

Palisades Giving Tree Sprouts Again

November 30, 2012

For nearly two decades, Palisades plant employees have supported a significant community project that focuses on the area’s senior citizens. The “Giving Tree” helps provide a Christmas gift wish come true for residents of South Haven area nursing homes who may not otherwise receive one during the holidays.

The concept is simple: a decorated Christmas tree is set up in the plant’s main lobby, covered with numbered construction paper ornaments. Each ornament has a Christmas wish gift for the designated resident. Employees wishing to participate take the ornament, purchase and wrap the gift and return it to the tree. On Saturday, Dec. 15, “Santa” (a Palisades employee) and his elves will deliver the gifts to the nursing home residents during their holiday party.

Helping improve the lives of those in our community – a commitment Palisades keeps every day.

Palisades Returned to Service

November 7, 2012

After a 68 hour outage, Palisades nuclear plant was returned to service at 1:07 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Nov. 7.

The plant was removed from service on Sunday, Nov. 4 after workers discovered a small steam leak on the plant’s secondary side in the auxiliary building. The leak on the ¾ inch steam piping drain line could not be isolated, so the plant was removed from service to make repairs.

Workers replaced a small section of piping and an associated valve, which is designed to capture any water from the steam. In addition, a small water leak from a service water valve was repaired while the plant was out of service.

Palisades Returned to Service Following Tank Repairs

July 11, 2012

Covert, Mich. - Control room operators at Entergy's Palisades nuclear plant returned the plant to service on Wednesday, July 11 at 2:36 a.m. EDT, ending a 28 day, 7 hour, 47 minute outage to conduct repairs to the plant's Safety Injection / Refueling Water tank. The plant will be increased to full power operation over the next several days. The aluminum SIRW tank is 50 feet in diameter and 35 feet tall. It holds up to 300,000 gallons of borated water that is used to fill the reactor cavity during refueling outages and to act as a source for the plant's safety injection system in the event of a loss of coolant accident.

Palisades was removed from service on June 12 when leakage from the tank exceeded an administrative limit of 31 gallons per day. The water leakage had been monitored, collected, and analyzed by Operations and Chemistry personnel since April 28. Hundreds of feet of floor plate, floor-to-wall plate, seam, and circumferential welds were examined during the outage using five different weld examination techniques. Potential weld flaws were identified, and those with minor through-wall leak paths were repaired. In addition, several modifications were performed on tank internal components to enhance structural integrity. Palisades, Entergy fleet, and tank construction and inspection experts from across the Midwest were on site to provide technical guidance during the repair process.

During the July 6 tank refill, water was observed coming from a sand bed that provides support for the tank's floor and reduces flexing of the metal. This was expected since previous tank leakage had dampened the sand under the tank. The residual water was now being forced out of the sand by the combined tank weight and the water being placed inside. The leaking water was captured in collection trays for analysis. Upwards of 20 gallons per day was collected initially and this amount has steadily decreased to 0.67 gallons per day collected on July 10.

With nuclear safety as the primary focus and consideration, based on the information learned about the sound structural integrity of the tank, the multiple non-destructive examination methods used, and input from industry-wide, fleet and Palisades' expertise, the decision was made to proceed with plant restart. Compensatory measures are in place to capture any tank leakage now and in the future, and actions are ready to be taken if tank leakage exceeds established administrative limits.

Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation's leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 15,000 employees.

Palisades Removed from Service to Conduct Tank Repairs

June 12, 2012

Covert, Mich. - Control room operators at Entergy's Palisades nuclear plant removed the plant from service at 6:49 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 12 to conduct repairs to the plant's Safety Injection / Refueling Water tank. The aluminum SIRW tank is 50 feet in diameter and 35 feet tall. It holds up to 300,000 gallons of borated water that is used to fill the reactor cavity during refueling outages and to act as a source for the plant's safety injection system in the event of a loss of coolant accident.

Operations department personnel have been monitoring, collecting and analyzing tank leakage twice every 24 hours. At 1:41 p.m. this afternoon, the tank was declared inoperable because the leakage had surpassed the Operational Decision Making Initiative (ODMI) limits set earlier in the month. Initial plant activities call for draining the tank, conducting an examination to located the source of the leakage, make repairs to the tank, refill the tank, and return the plant to service.

Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation's leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 15,000 employees.

Palisades Returned to Service Ending Refueling Outage

May 12, 2012

Covert, Mich. - Palisades Nuclear Plant was returned to service Saturday morning, May 12, at 5:34 a.m. EDT, ending a 33 day, 19 hour, and 8 minute refueling and maintenance outage. The outage started on Sunday, April 8, at 10:26 a.m. EDT. During the outage, 64 new fuel assemblies were placed in the reactor. Other major work completed included an inspection of the two low pressure turbines and four moisture separator and re-heaters; an inspection and cleaning of the main condenser; and an inspection of the reactor vessel head.

A total of 1,200 additional supplemental workers assisted the plant's staff in completing the work safely. This is also the second refueling outage in a row at Palisades in which no lost-time accidents or OSHA recordable injuries were recorded.

Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation's leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 15,000 employees.