IT WAS A BOILER TUBE FAILURE. HERE IS THE NEWS RELEASE FROM POWER COMPANY.
Accident At Dominion’s Salem Harbor Station Results In Three Employee Fatalities
SALEM, Mass. – Three Dominion employees were fatally injured by a boiler tube rupture Tuesday at Salem Harbor Power Station.
The three employees – two operators and a mechanic – were working on the ground floor near the Unit 3 boiler when a tube ruptured, blowing steam onto them 20 feet below. The three were taken first to local hospitals, then to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, where they died Tuesday night and early Wednesday.
"All of Dominion is greatly saddened at the deaths of these men," said Thomas F. Farrell II, Dominion chairman, president and chief executive officer. "They were valuable members of our Salem Harbor family. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families."
Dominion is not releasing the names of the employees at the request of the families.
Dominion voluntarily shut down all four units at Salem Harbor so that the station can focus on the needs of its employees and a full safety review can occur. Units 1 and 2, which were operating but not involved in the accident, were shut down late Tuesday. Unit 4 was not operating Tuesday. The units will remain shut down for an indeterminate period of time.
The cause and exact location of the boiler tube rupture is not known. Boiler tubes contain high-pressure water and steam that turn the turbine-generator, which spins to produce electricity. Station personnel said the first indication of a problem with Unit 3 was when the rupture occurred at about 9 a.m.
