UPDATE 2-Entergy sees NY Indian Point 3 reactor back soon

(Updates with company release)

NEW YORK Aug 11 (Reuters) - Entergy Corp (ETR.N) planned to restart the 1,025-megawatt Unit 3 at the Indian Point nuclear power station in New York later this week, after it shut on Monday during a thunderstorm, the company said in a release Tuesday.

The company said a lightning strike in the vicinity of the Buchanan switchyard located across the street from the plant likely caused an electrical disturbance that shut the unit. The switchyard connects the plant to the power grid.

The plant shut as designed with no damage to equipment, no release of radioactivity and no threat to workers or the public, the company said.

The 2,045-MW Indian Point station is located in Buchanan in Westchester County about 45 miles north of New York City. The station has two units, the 1,020-MW Unit 2 and the 1,025-MW Unit 3, which entered service in 1973 and 1976.

Unit 2 continued to operate at full power.

One MW powers about 800 homes in New York.

In April 2007, Entergy filed with the NRC for a 20-year extension of the unit's original 40-year operating licenses.

On its website, the NRC said it will likely make a decision on the renewal sometime after February 2010 at a date still to be determined due in part to upcoming hearings concerning numerous safety and environmental contentions.

Community and environmental organizations have been trying to shut Indian Point since before the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. They fear radioactive contamination from an accident could harm the public in the heavily populated suburbs north of New York City.

In July, Entergy asked the New York Public Service Commission to take action on the company's planned spinoff of its non-utility nuclear units, including Indian Point, to a new investor owned company to be called Enexus Energy Corp by the end of the year. Entergy announced the proposed spinoff in late 2007.

Entergy, of New Orleans, owns and operates about 30,000 MW of generating capacity, markets energy commodities, and transmits and distributes power to 2.7 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Walter Bagley)