Warning lights on Limerick nuke plant towers out for days

LIMERICK >> The blinking aviation warning lights atop the two massive cooling towers at the Limerick nuclear plant have been out of operation for two weeks and there is no information about when they will be back on.

Dana Melia, the communications manager for the Exelon Nuclear power station, confirmed in a Nov. 20 email that the lights have not functioned since Nov. 9.

She did not provide an estimate on when they would be repaired other than to indicate “a repair plan is under way to restore the lights to service as soon as possible.”

The lights were still out Tuesday and Melia was not available for further comment.

Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said although the NRC is aware of the problem, authority over that aspect of the plant’s operation rests with the Federal Aviation Administration.

The FAA’s eastern district office in New York did not return requests for information Tuesday.

The two cooling towers are more than 500 feet tall and the lights on top are there as a warning to aircraft, particularly even the proximity of the Heritage Field, formerly the Limerick-Pottstown Airport, off Ridge Pike.

Mike Dinnell, general manager of the Fair Share Charter Co., which flies out of the airport and is one of the charter captains there, said he was not even aware that the lights are out.

“The FAA has a permanent advisory for pilots, so if the lights are out, they should have issued a temporary notice,” he said.

The lights being out during a heavier holiday travel season is particularly worrisome, said Dinnell.

“During the summer and during the holidays, we definitely get more traffic at the airport,” he said.

“I mean, on a day like today, it’s not a big deal at all because the chances of a pilot seeing the lights are slim to none,” Dinnell said Tuesday.

“But tonight, when a lot of planes will be out because it’s nice out, it can be hard to see. The lights definitely give them warning,” said Dinnell.

“At night you can have a bit of a depth perception problem and that makes identifying ground hazards a lot more difficult,” he said.