Project to replace the generator was in progress. Accident occurred when they were rigging out the old generator stator (weighs 500 tons, 2x heavier than the Monticello generator stator). Failure occurred when over the railroad bay and the stator dropped 55 feet. Not sure exactly what failed but you can see in the bottom pictures that the stator rotated ~135 degrees before it landed. Have been told that the impact caused the other unit to trip – a check of the NRC website indicates that both are offline, but can’t confirm anything beyond that. Rumor is that the impact could be felt several miles away. Here are MEMEBR AREA photos of the move before and after the rigging failure. The generator and beams fell 55 feet to the Turbine building ground floor.
Rigging failure at ANO unit, 1 fatality, several injuries (UPDATED on 4/5/13)
