It is awfully cold in Pennsylvania isn't it?

[kristopher]

On the unexpectedly intermittent nature of nuclear power.

FirstEnergy works on Pennsylvania Beaver Valley reactor transformer
Sat Jan 25, 2014

Jan 24 (Reuters) - FirstEnergy Corp said on Friday it
is continuing work on the replacement of a transformer at the
892-megawatt Unit 1 at the Beaver Valley nuclear power plant in
Pennsylvania.

...

A First Energy spokeswoman could not say when the unit
would likely return to service but noted "the outage is expected
to be shorter than a typical refueling outage, which is normally
about 30 days."

"We are well into the replacement process. This is a large
component that requires some time to replace," said spokeswoman
Jennifer Young.

A spokesman at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Neil
Sheehan, said "Work is continuing on the installation and
testing of the new transformer ... While the work may be taking
slightly longer than anticipated, the delays would not be
considered significant."...

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/01/24/utilities-operations-firstenergy-beaverv-idINL2N0KY1EC20140124

Well, that's Ok. It isn't like it happens a lot.

Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant units shut down Tuesday night
Triggered by tripped electrical breaker

By AMANDA SCOTT

Both units at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant were automatically shut down Tuesday night due to electrical problems.

About 9:25 p.m. Tuesday, units 1 and 2 were shut down due to an electrical malfunction on the non-nuclear side of the plant, according to a Constellation Energy Nuclear Group press release. All safety systems responded as designed and the plant went offline as expected, the release said.

On Wednesday, CCNPP spokesman Kory Raftery said an electrical bus that is connected to components on both units was tripped, or went offline, resulting in the automatic shutdown. Raftery said the issue is similar to a breaker in a home getting tripped and the electricity in that room not working.

...“The preliminary cause of the loss of the electrical supply is snow and ice impacting a ventilation louver filter on the building housing the supply,” Sheehan wrote, “resulting in it coming into contact with the supply and thereby tripping the breaker.”...

http://www.somdnews.com/article/20140124/NEWS/140129488/1074/calvert-cliffs-nuclear-power-plant-units-shut-down-tuesday-night&template=southernMaryland

So, three nuclear reactors at two plants unexpectedly shut down for a not insignificant period of time, in the same region, during a major freeze event.

Anticipated variability vs unexpected intermittent - that's a distinction that the nuclear industry would rather people didn't appreciate.

[legcramp]

1. Just what the hell does a blown transformer and a tripped series of circuit breakers

Have to do with nuclear power production?

These were NOT unexpected shutdowns. Your own link states "All safety systems responded as designed and the plant went offline as expected".

It would make absolutely no difference if the electricity was being produced by coal, oil, natural gas, solar, pinwheels, magic fairy dust or nuclear, if it can't get to the grid it's useless.

This has to be the most obsequious, disingenuous and uninformed post about nuclear energy I have ever seen.

Not to mention an outright lie.

[LouisvilleDem]

2. Stop with those pesky facts...

...you're killing the vibe man.

[kristopher]

4. legcramp didn't provide any facts

An obviously flawed interpretation of a sentence in the OP is an obviously flawed interpretation of a sentence in the OP, not a "fact".

[kristopher]

3. Nuclear power isn't reliable.

Those we're in fact, unexpected shutdowns that occurred during a period of record high demand. The loss of that much generating capacity without planning is an extreme event; we're damned lucky that they ISO was able to handle it without broader consequences to the power system.

As for your rational for calling the post "a lie" well, it You wrote, "These were NOT unexpected shutdowns. Your own link states "All safety systems responded as designed and the plant went offline as expected""

That doesn't say the plant shut downs were expected; it says the procedure and process for an abrupt, unplanned shut-down went as expected.

The fact that you can't tell the difference or are willing to try to obfuscate the issue tells us more than a bit about your affinity for nuclear power.

Nuclear power isn't reliable when compared to renewable energy. A distributed grid built on renewable technologies is far less 'brittle', far more stable than a grid crafted around large scale, centralized thermal plants - particularly nuclear with its habit of frequent, unplanned, abrupt outages.