St Lucie Nuclear Reactor Unit 1 manually shutdown, 3 control rods drop into core

Unit 1 at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant was manually shut down on August 13, 2026, following the drop of three control rods into the core, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reported. The incident took place at 9:47 a.m. EDT while the unit was operating at full capacity. The NRC deemed the event a non-emergency. The manual shutdown occurred at 0947 EDT on August 13, 2026, as Unit 1 was in Mode 1, generating 100 percent power.

The control rods' descent into the core triggered the manual trip, which transpired smoothly with no complications reported. Post-trip, operations restored stability to Mode 3. Decay heat was addressed by discharging steam to the main condenser via the turbine bypass valves and main feedwater. Unit 2 remained unaffected by the shutdown. According to the NRC's records, Unit 1 continues to be offline as of the reporting date.