St. Lucie Nuclear Plant Unit 1 shut down after control rods drop into core

Unit 1 at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant was manually shut down Wednesday morning after 3 control rods dropped into the reactor core, according to a notification filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

The manual reactor trip occurred at 9:47 a.m. EDT on Aug. 13, 2026, while Unit 1 was operating at 100% power. The NRC classified the event as a non-emergency.

“At 0947 EDT on August 13, 2026, with Unit 1 in Mode 1 at 100 percent power, the reactor was manually tripped due to 3 control rods dropping into the core. The trip was uncomplicated with all systems responding normally post-trip. Operations stabilized the plant in Mode 3. Decay heat is being removed by discharging steam to the main condenser using the turbine bypass valves and main feedwater. Unit 2 is not affected,” the licensee said.

The plant was stabilized in Mode 3, known as Hot Standby. Decay heat is being removed by discharging steam to the main condenser using the turbine bypass valves and main feedwater.

Unit 2 at the Saint Lucie facility was not affected.

According to the NRC website, Unit 1 remains shut down.

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