One unit at the Susquehanna nuclear power plant is being taken off line Tuesday morning as part of a planned inspection into a minor water leak, officials say.

The shutdown of Unit 1 at the PPL plant is to investigate the source of the leak inside the containment chamber that surrounds the reactor, a release states.

"The leak does not affect the safety of the plant or the public," said Timothy S. Rausch, PPL's chief nuclear officer. "We made the prudent decision to shut down the unit while the leak is small and will return it to service after we make the needed repairs."

Unit 2 will remain on line during the shutdown, and both reactors are expected to back up later in the day Tuesday.

The two units at the Susquehanna plant - located in Luzerne Co. and owned jointly by PPL Susquehanna LLC and Allegheny Electric Cooperative Inc. - have a generating capacity of about 2,500 megawatts.

More information is available at www.pplweb.com.