UPDATE 2-Entergy sees NY Indian Pt 2 reactor back soon

NEW YORK, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Entergy Corp planned to restart the 1,020-megawatt Unit 2 at the Indian Point nuclear power station in New York soon, a spokesman said Tuesday. He said the company expected the outage to be of short duration -- days not weeks. Unit 2 shut from full power on Nov. 2 due to a generator lock out relay actuation, the company told the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in a report. The company said in the report an investigation was ongoing and all systems responded as expected to shut the unit. The spokesman noted the plant had been running safely for more than 200 continuous days prior to the Nov. 2 shutdown. He added the last outage for Unit 2 was in April, so this shutdown should not impact the NRC's performance indicators for unplanned shutdowns. The 2,045-MW Indian Point station is located in Buchanan in Westchester County about 45 miles north of New York City. The station has two units, the 1,020-MW Unit 2 and the 1,025-MW Unit 3, which entered service in 1973 and 1976. Unit 3 continued to operate at full power. One MW powers about 800 homes in New York. In April 2007, Entergy filed with the NRC for a 20-year extension of the unit's original 40-year operating licenses. On its website, the NRC said it will likely make a decision on the renewal sometime after February 2010 at a date still to be determined due in part to upcoming hearings concerning numerous safety and environmental contentions. Community and environmental organizations have been trying to shut Indian Point since before the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. They fear radioactive contamination from an accident could harm the public in the heavily populated suburbs north of New York City. In July, Entergy asked the New York Public Service Commission to take action on the company's planned spinoff of its nonutility nuclear units, including Indian Point, to a new investor owned company to be called Enexus Energy Corp by the end of the year. Entergy announced the proposed spinoff in late 2007. Entergy, of New Orleans, owns and operates about 30,000 MW of generating capacity, markets energy commodities, and transmits and distributes power to 2.7 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Walter Bagley) (([e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail])) Keywords: UTILITIES OPERATIONS/ENTERGY INDIAN (For help: Click "Contact Us" in your desk top, click here or call 1-800-738-8377 for Reuters Products and [phone] for Thomson products; For client training: [e-mail]; [phone]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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