Entergy NY Indian Point 3 reactor back at full power

NEW YORK, June 24 (Reuters) - Entergy Corp's (ETR.N) 1,025-megawatt Unit 3 at the Indian Point nuclear power station in New York returned to full power by early Wednesday from 58 percent early Tuesday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report.

The unit had been running at less than 60 percent since early June as workers fixed a boiler feed pump, which moves water from the condenser to the steam generators.

The unit shut on May 28 due to high vibration in one of the two main boiler feed pumps. It returned to service soon after but had to shut again on May 31 to fix a control oil system. It returned to service in early June.

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 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 at the plant could cause numerous deaths and injuries in the heavily populated New York City metropolitan area.

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 John Picinich)