RALEIGH, N.C. -

At 3:51 p.m., officials at Harris Nuclear Plant exited the Alert declared this morning due to a fire in plant electrical equipment. An inspection of the affected plant equipment revealed no impact to the safe operation of the plant. The unit is currently shutdown and in stable condition.

There was no impact to public safety as a result of this event. Once the equipment is restored, the plant will return to full power.

Previous Information

Plant employees staffed the emergency response facilities after smoke was detected at 10:16 a.m. Plant operators safely shut down the plant and the on-site fire brigade responded.

An Alert is the second in increasing severity of four nuclear emergency classifications. This classification is used to describe conditions that require emergency response agencies to be in a heightened state of readiness, but pose no threat to public safety.

The Harris Nuclear Plant is a single-unit power plant located on Harris Lake, near New Hill, N.C. The plant began commercial operation in 1987 and has rated capacity of 928 megawatts. The Harris Nuclear Plant is jointly owned by the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency and Duke Energy.

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