Accident to idle unit of reactor for weeks
It will take several weeks to restart Unit 2 of Arkansas Nuclear One near Russellville, Entergy Corp. officials said in a prepared statement Thursday.
The unit has been offline since Sunday, when a 550-ton generator stator fell as it was being moved out of the turbine building, a nonnuclear area of the plant.
In the accident, one worker, 24-year-old Wade Walters, was killed and eight others were injured.
A generator stator is a large stationary enclosure that makes the electricity at the plant.
The Unit 1 generator stator was being replaced. A new stator scheduled for installation is already staged at an off-site location.
The move of the generator stator was associated with Unit 1’s refueling shutdown, which began March 24.
Both units remain in a stable, shutdown condition. the statement said.
Unit 1 is being powered by diesel generators, and work to restore off-site power is continuing.
Unit 2 is receiving offsite power.
- David Smith
Petra Capital buys two Arkansas firms
Nashville, Tenn.-based Petra Capital Partners has acquired two Arkansas firms after an investment the Arkansas Institutional Fund made in Petra in 2008, according to a release Thursday from the Arkansas Development Finance Authority.
The fund invested $4.5 million with Petra’s Growth Fund II in 2008 on condition that Petra would actively seek investment opportunities in the state, the release states.
In December, Petra, through its subsidiary WellNow Urgent Care of Arkansas, acquired Sherwood Urgent Care of Searcy, which operates six clinics in central Arkansas.
WellNow Arkansas plans to expand in the state, the release said.
And, in July, Petra acquired Bear River International of Bentonville, which provides products such as remote-control vehicles and preschool toys to retailers while managing supply chain, customer service and related services.
- Jack Weatherly
Arkansas Index up; 11 stocks advance
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 1.11 to 268.78 Thursday.
Eleven stocks advanced and five declined.
Dillard’s had the best day, climbing 1.6 percent in light trading.
Arkansas Best lost 2 percent on low volume.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business, Pages 25 on 04/05/2013