Transformer fire in switchyard at McGuire Nuclear Station, North Carolina

What happened

Early on Wednesday 8 November 2017, a transformer caught fire in a switchyard serving the McGuire Nuclear Station in Huntersville, North Carolina. Reports differ on its position: the Huntersville Fire Department described it as across the street from the plant, while an NRC official put it about a mile from the nuclear plant. Black smoke and flames were visible from Highway 73. The Huntersville Fire Department responded with its tankers, assisted by a tanker from the East Lincoln Fire Department, and laid foam to cool the transformer.

The fire was confined to the transformer building. No one was in the transformer yard when the fire began, and workers were unable to reach the faulty unit to determine the problem. Plant officials said there was no evacuation and no shutdown of the plant. An NRC official said there was no operational impact on the plant's two units. Duke Energy reported the fire to the NRC.

Contributing factors

Duke Energy said the fire was caused by some type of equipment failure. The exact cause was not known when the reports were published, and engineers were not expected to begin the investigation until at least the following Thursday.

Lessons learned

1. Transformer fires in switchyards can produce large smoke plumes and traffic disruption even when confined, so operators should plan public communication and road management in advance.
2. Where fault conditions cannot be reached safely while a transformer is burning, record the condition of the equipment and the yard immediately after the event to support root cause analysis.
3. Notify the relevant regulator promptly, even when the fire poses no threat to the wider site, so that the event is documented and assessed.

More lessons on emergency response and public communication, maintenance, inspection and ageing assets, from every incident on the register.

Source

wsoctv.com