Missouri's sole nuclear power plant is back online after being shut down for more than three weeks.
Ameren Missouri's Callaway Energy Center was taken off line July 26 after an electrical arc caused a small fire. The plant resumed operations Sunday morning. Spokesman Cleve Reasoner says the arc was triggered when a ventilation louver came loose and got too close to the power cables.
"Testing confirmed that there was no impact to the major components," Reasoner said. "So the repairs were those that were associated directly with correction of the arc damage."
Reasoner says the arc fire happened on the power production side of the plant, away from the nuclear reactor, and that there were no radiation issues during the fire or while the plant was shut down. Other Ameren Missouri plants increased power production while Callaway was off line.
Reasoner says the plant generates about 20 percent of the electricity provided for Ameren Missouri's 1.2 million customers.
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