--- description: An outage at the New York area facility is likely due to bird poop title: Bird Poop Causes Disturbance at New York Nuclear Reactor image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4abae2428b10d647/698880360a4a2207889c8aa7/110468061.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Bird Poop Causes Disturbance at New York Nuclear Reactor by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 4, 2016 1:35 PM CUT  BUCHANAN, NY - MARCH 18: A boat moves along the Hudson River in front of the Indian Point nuclear power plant March 18, 2011 in Buchanan, New York. Mario Tama—Getty Images BUCHANAN, NY - MARCH 18: A boat moves along the Hudson River in front of the Indian Point nuclear power plant March 18, 2011 in Buchanan, New York. Mario Tama—Getty ImagesMario Tama—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 4, 2016 1:35 PM CUT An operator at a nuclear power plant says bird poop may be to blame for a shutdown the plant experienced in mid-December. Entergy Corp. says bird “streaming,” the technical name for our bird waste, likely caused a disturbance on outdoor electrical transmission lines and led to the shutdown of a nuclear reactor. The company sent a report on the shutdown at the Indian Point reactor to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in February, [_CBS News_](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bird-poop-apparently-caused-new-york-nuclear-reactor-outage/ "undefined") reports. The reactor is on the Hudson River, 50 miles north of New York City. The bird incident was the latest in a string of issues at the Indian Point reactor, which has experienced a fire, a power failure, and a radioactive water leak in the past year. Operators at the Indian Point reactor told _CBS News_ they could not remember another incident involving a bird, but animal disturbances are not uncommon along electrical transmission lines. “Squirrels are the biggest offenders,” a Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman said. \[[CBS](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bird-poop-apparently-caused-new-york-nuclear-reactor-outage/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4247587/bird-poop-causes-disturbance-at-new-york-nuclear-reactor/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4247587/bird-poop-causes-disturbance-at-new-york-nuclear-reactor/"},"headline":"Bird Poop Causes Disturbance at New York Nuclear Reactor","datePublished":"2016-03-04T13:35:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:37:30.809Z","description":"A different kind of nuclear waste","url":"https://time.com/4247587/bird-poop-causes-disturbance-at-new-york-nuclear-reactor/","keywords":["animals","New York","birds","Weird News"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4abae2428b10d647/698880360a4a2207889c8aa7/110468061.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4abae2428b10d647/698880360a4a2207889c8aa7/110468061.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Indian Point Concern Renewed Amid Japanese Crisis","caption":"Indian Point Concern Renewed Amid Japanese Crisis","creditText":"Mario Tama—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4247587/bird-poop-causes-disturbance-at-new-york-nuclear-reactor/","name":"Bird Poop Causes Disturbance at New York Nuclear Reactor"}}]}] ```