Three people were killed and 50 injured in an explosion at Gannon Station Unit 6 near Tampa, Florida. Hydrogen contained in the 375 MWe generator exploded when the access cover was prematurely opened during a maintenance outage.
The operating utility, Tampa Electric (TECO), is carrying out an investigation of the incident. It believes that its safety procedures may not have been followed. TECO has found that the explosion was not due to equipment failure, lack of maintenance or ineffective safety training. Instead, TECO believes its procedures for removal of hydrogen from the unit before beginning maintenance may not have been followed.
Immediately after the explosion, all six units were taken off line. Within a week, units 1, 2 and 3 were operating, and unit 4 was operating shortly after. These units have capacities of 114 MWe, 108 MWe, 155 MWe and 169 MWe, respectively. Unit 5 is expected to be operational by the end of May.
