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St. Lucie Plant Unit 1 Shut Down After 3 Rods Drop

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On Aug. 13, 2026, St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 was manually shut down when 3 control rods dropped into the reactor core, causing a reactor trip at 9:47 a.m. EDT while operating at 100% power.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) classified the event as a non‑emergency. The manual trip was uncomplicated; all systems responded normally, and the plant was stabilized in Mode 3 (Hot Standby). Decay heat was removed by discharging steam to the main condenser via turbine bypass valves and main feedwater.

NextEra Energy reported that Unit 1 has been restored to 100% power after safely resolving the equipment issue. Unit 2 remained unaffected throughout the incident.

This story was first reported on‑air by a journalist and later converted to this platform with AI assistance. Our editorial team verifies all reporting for fairness and accuracy.