NPPD shuts Neb. Cooper reactor

NEW YORK, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Nebraska Public Power District shut the 758-megawatt Cooper nuclear power station in Nebraska on Nov. 11 due to a turbine hydraulic fluid leak, the company told the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in a report.

The company said it discovered the leak when the reactor was operating at about 70 percent as it was ramping up after exiting an outage.

This was the second shutdown for the plant since exiting a refueling outage last week.

The unit first shut on Nov. 6 due to an oil leak. It returned to service by Nov. 10.

The refueling outage started on Sept. 28.

The unit last shut for refueling from about April 11-May 19, 2008. It is on an 18 month refueling cycle.

The Cooper station, which entered service in 1974, is in Brownville in Nemaha County about 75 miles south of Omaha.

In September 2008, NPPD filed with the NRC to renew the unit's original 40-year operating license for an additional 20 years. The NRC expected to make a decision in Nov. 2010 with no hearing and July 2011 with a hearing.

One MW powers about 800 homes in Nebraska.