energy-and-infrastructure2 months ago
St. Lucie Unit 1 Halts Operations After Control Rods Drop Into Reactor Core
Florida Power & Light operators manually shut down Unit 1 at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant on August 16, 2026, after three control rods unexpectedly dropped into the reactor core. The incident occurred at 9:47 a.m. while the unit was operating at 100% power. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission classified the event as a non-emergency, noting that all systems responded normally and the plant stabilized in Mode 3. Unit 2 continued operating without impact. The facility, which supplies roughly 11% of FPL’s power, is currently removing decay heat via turbine bypass valves.
