N.J. nuclear plants brace for oncoming storm, rising waters

[proverbialwisdom]

Source: By Eliot Caroom/The Star-Ledger

October 27, 2012 at 2:17 PM, updated October 27, 2012 at 2:56 PM

New Jersey's nuclear plants are bracing for Sandy today, federal regulators and officials for PSEG Nuclear and Exelon said.

"We'll have to see where it goes, but it looks like it's going to have a pretty good hit on New Jersey," Sheehan said today.

Sheehan said that federal inspectors with satellite phones will be stationed at the plants through the storm.

"These plants have to be able to withstand all sorts of natural phenomena: earthquakes, severe flooding, tropical storms, lightning storms, tornadoes. They need to be able to deal with all of that," said Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

"We like to say they're very robust structures, they can deal with a lot of punishment, but at the same time they have procedures in place to guide them through this."

Oyster Creek, located in Lacey Township in Ocean County, is shut down for a refueling outage, the plant's owner, Exelon said in a statement. The company has a storm response team working on protecting the plant and its workers.

<...>



Read more: http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2012/10/nj_nuclear_plants_brace_for_on.html

[graywarrior]

1. .

[one_voice]

2. *sigh*

[proverbialwisdom]

3. Other related articles: Reuters, Bloomberg News.

https://research.tdwaterhouse.ca/research/public/Markets/CommoditiesNews?documentKey=1314-L1E8LQ9QA-1

FACTBOX-U.S. nuclear units in the path of Hurricane Sandy

2:12PM ET on Friday Oct 26, 2012
by Thomson Reuters

Oct 26 (Reuters) - U.S. electric companies from Maine to
Florida are preparing for heavy wind, rain and flooding that
could take down power lines and could close some East Coast
nuclear plants early next week when Hurricane Sandy comes
ashore.

There are more than a dozen nuclear plants near Hurricane
Sandy's path in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut, providing power to
millions of customers in the region.

The following lists the nuclear reactors and utilities in
Sandy's potential path:

PLEASE SEE LINK (table does not reproduce)


(Reporting By Scott DiSavino; Editing by Bob Burgdorfer).

http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2012/10/nuclear_regulatory_commission_1.html

Nuclear Regulatory Commission watches reactors in Sandy's path

By Bloomberg News
on October 26, 2012 at 4:53 PM, updated October 27, 2012 at 1:31 PM

Nuclear reactors in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast are being monitored for potential impacts by Hurricane Sandy, a Category 1 storm that may strike anywhere from Delaware to southern New England.

“Because of the size of it, we could see an impact to coastal and inland plants,” Neil Sheehan, a spokesman based in Philadelphia for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said by phone today. “We will station inspectors at the sites if we know they could be directly impacted.”

<...>

[proverbialwisdom]

5. Links above from http://enenews.com

Specifically, http://enenews.com/nytimes-urgent-warnings-as-sandy-strengthens-hurricane-flood-blizzard-could-stay-over-region-for-days-feds-with-satellite-phones-stationed-at-nuclear-plants

[valerief]

6. Oh, great. Our own Fukushima-Daiichi.

[proverbialwisdom]

9. No, that's not what any of the articles stated or even implied.

The task of dealing with this weather event in order to avert disaster, however, is massively complex. What a relief it will be when it's over.

[lovuian]

13. Hope Creek and Indian Point

can cause real problems

[Shankapotomus]

7. Just what I always wanted

To die in a nuclear accident surrounded by brain dead republicans. Perfect.

[SunSeeker]

8. Holy crap.

I wasn't even thinking of that. Thanks for giving me one more thing to worry about!

[EC]

10. I guess we just have to hope

that all the materials used were at least up to specs. Depending on when they were built, I'm not to hopeful. There was a time in 70's when the materials used could have been cheaper and less quality then were specified.

[wordpix]

25. I don't know--my condo built in the 70's has steel beams supporting the floors and real wood posts,

not made of chipboard held together with glue

[EC]

26. True.

There were ethical builders. I just don't trust most that were built for government projects or big things where their bids could have been way off and costs had to be cut.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

11. Calvert Cliffs too

[Journeyman]

12. Good thing they'll have satellite phones. They should prove useful. . .

"...very robust...lot of punishment...but..."

The terrible "buts" accumulate.

Probably nothing untoward will happen. This time...

[bucolic_frolic]

14. I just hope someone remembers

to evacuate Donald's hair. Be a shame to lose a national treasure
and have it float out to sea.

[Throckmorton]

15. FWIW, Im working the storm at Millstone Station in Connecticut

One unit is off line for refueling (unit 2), and the other is down powering in face of the coming storm.
We have been preparing since Thursday, and I am going to be here from 2PM tomorrow until at least Thursday Morning.

We are expecting sea levels of 11 to 13 feet above Mean High Tide, with 7 to 9 foot waves on top that.

[Mojorabbit]

16. Stay safe. nt

[bananas]

17. Wow - just two months ago you shut down because the sound was too hot.

Good luck with the storm.

[proverbialwisdom]

18. You're an unsung hero then and we owe you a debt of gratitude for your unseen work and sacrifice.

Good luck and it's not being melodramatic to state that the thoughts and prayers of millions are with you for your contribution under the phrase, "Please help keep us safe." FWIW, immeasurable indeed.

[LiberalEsto]

19. Sending you light

and wishing you and your colleagues the best

[Throckmorton]

22. Came through the storm just fine

Surge was just over 12 ft, which is 7 ft below our design basis. Peak wind gust that we measured was 76mph. Destruction of shoreline is extensive. Went home around 9 AM, my house is undamaged, but many closer to the beach are less fortunate. My town was 100% without power at 5 PM, which has improved a little since then. My generator is working just fine, this is the third major outage in a littler over 14 months, and it was well worth the investment. I suspect we will be without power for 3 or 4 more days, it went out at a few minutes to noon yesterday. Thanks for all of the concern voiced here.

Throck

[proverbialwisdom]

20. Democracynow.org - Nuclear Plants from Virginia to Vermont Could Be Impacted from Massive Hurricane

Last edited Mon Oct 29, 2012, 04:35 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/29/nuclear_plants_from_virginia_to_vermont

Monday, October 29, 2012

Nuclear Plants from Virginia to Vermont Could Be Impacted from Massive Hurricane Sandy


The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has acknowledged the massive Sandy storm could impact both coastal and inland nuclear power plants. At least 16 reactors are in the storm’s projected path, including North Anna and Surry in Virginia; Calvert Cliffs in Maryland; Oyster Creek, Hope Creek and Salem in New Jersey; Indian Point in New York; Millstone in Connecticut; and Vermont Yankee. So far, there have been no reports of reactors shutting down, despite operating under licenses that require them to do so if weather conditions are too severe. "The biggest problem, as I see it right now, is the Oyster Creek plant, which is on Barnegat Bay in New Jersey," says former nuclear executive Arnie Gundersen, noting it lies in the project eye of the storm. "Oyster Creek is the same design design, but even older than Fukushima Daiichi unit 1. It’s in a refueling outage. That means that all the nuclear fuel is not in the nuclear reactor, but it’s over in the spent fuel pool. And in that condition, there’s no backup power for the spent fuel pools. So, if Oyster Creek were to lose its offsite power — and, frankly, that’s really likely — there would be no way cool that nuclear fuel that’s in the fuel pool until they get the power reestablished. ... The most important lesson we can take out of the Fukushima Daiichi and climate change, and especially with Hurricane Sandy, is that we can’t expect to cool these fueling pools." [includes rush transcript]


Guest: Arnie Gundersen, former nuclear industry senior vice president who has coordinated projects at 70 nuclear power plants around the country. He provides independent testimony on nuclear and radiation issues to the NRC, congressional and state legislatures, and government agencies and officials in the U.S. and abroad. He is the chief engineer at Fairewinds Associates and co-author of the Greenpeace report, "Lessons from Fukushima."


Video and Transcript: http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/29/nuclear_plants_from_virginia_to_vermont

[Throckmorton]

23. Arnie is wrong about spent fuel pools and backup power

Spent fuel pool cooling is power off of the same vital buses as all other Category 1 systems, and I suspect he knows it.

[proverbialwisdom]

21. GREAT SAVE!!!!! LACEY, NJ power restored.

Announced without context on WABC AM radio.

Earlier:

http://lacey.patch.com/articles/nearly-10000-without-power-in-lacey-dep-monitoring-oyster-creek

http://enenews.com/flood-waters-rise-above-threshold-at-nj-nuclear-plant-oyster-creek-may-use-fire-system-to-cool-spent-fuel-rods-fema-no-imminent-threat-of-releases

NEWS
President Obama Coming To New Jersey Wednesday
By Tom Davis

[wordpix]

24. no thanks to the nuke industry - solve the fuel pool/waste problem, why don'tcha?

keep stacking up the rods in the pools b/c there's no place to put them permanently, so they permanently reside in the "temporary" pools. Then demand the US gov. give taxpayer guaranteed loans in the billions for building new nukes b/c private investors won't fund them.

If this isn't an industry that should go under, I don't know what is.

[lonestarnot]

27. There is a country that recycles residue and waste back into power. I forgot the place, but it was

interesting. I think we could learn from them.