COMMENTARY
MARK SCHUMANN
In a headline more befitting a New York City tabloid that a serious news site, VeroNew.com reported yesterday, “Explosion rocks power plant, takes down 2 generators.”
The tabloid-style headline was, at best, an exaggeration. Over the hot Labor day weekend, while the City was operating the power plant at the request of the Orlando Utilities Commission, steam under 900 pounds of pressure blow out the sidewall in a tub on the City’s Unit 3 generator. According to City Manager Jim O’Connor, the tub of approximately 3 to 4 inches in diameter runs up the side of the generator.
The sudden release of steam under pressure, hardly an “explosion,” caused approximately $10,000 in damage. As the tube failed, the pressurized steam also damaged a switch on the Unit 4 generator. Unit 4 has already been repaired, and Unite 3 should be running again by Friday, O’Connor said. No one was injured, and certainly the power plant was not “rocked,” as VeroNews.com reported.
Indian River Guardian 
We live close enough (about a mile away) from the plant. Had there been an “explosion” of any magnitude, I believe we would have heard it. If that event warranted such a headline, I can’t even begin to think of what VeroNews.com would print if (Heaven forbid) there were a problem with overly-hot water at the nuclear power plant. Come to think of it, I have heard there is a problem but it is underplayed. Thank you, InsideVero.com, for giving us the true perspective.