The local newspaper didn’t look past PG&E’s news about unit 2 coming back up (lightning strike) to notice that unit 1 had been down (pipe leak) a few weeks before.

David Sneed wrote for the San Luis Obispo Tribune 16 July 2013, Diablo Canyon’s Unit 2 reactor back at full power,

Unit 2 at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant returned to full power Tuesday after the unit unexpectedly shut down July 10 when an electrical disturbance occurred in equipment that supports moving power to the state’s electric grid.

An investigation into the shutdown determined the electrical disturbance was a result of a flashover event on a lightning arrestor located on the non-nuclear side of the plant, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said in a news release.

The flashover occurred during routine maintenance that involved pressure washing, known as “hot washing,” of electrical insulators near the lightning arrestor. Upon sensing the disturbance, the unit performed as designed and automatically went off line to protect equipment. Unit 1 was unaffected and continued to generate power.

“Staff report” (transcription of PG&E PR) same paper 4 July 2013, Diablo Canyon’s Unit 1 back online,

One of Diablo Canyon Power Plant’s reactors, shut down June 26 because of a minor safety concern, was brought back online July 4, according to PG&E.

A minor leakage found on a section of pipe inside the containment building for Unit 1 was the reason for the June shutdown. The leak was found on a pipe that is part of the Residual Heat Removal System, which helps cool the reactor once it has been shut down.

Unit 1 started providing power to the state’s grid July 1 before it transitioned to full capacity July 4.

During the repairs, Unit 2 was online and providing power to the grid as usual.

Notice the theme here: the other one was online as usual, nothing to see here, such as the other one was also down recently.

-jsq

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