29 Aug (NucNet): US nuclear energy facilities in the path of hurricane Irene at the weekend responded well and safely to the storm, and most continued to operate at full power, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) has reported.
NEI senior vice-president Scott Peterson said yesterday: “Every facility was ready to take any steps necessary to maintain safety, thanks to careful planning and deliberate storm preparations several days in advance of the storm.”
As a result of the hurricane, the NEI reported that:
• Calvert Cliffs-1 in Maryland automatically and safely shut down, as designed, when a large piece of aluminium struck a transformer late Saturday local time. The plant immediately declared an unusual event, the lowest of four emergency classifications, and ended the unusual event status on Sunday morning. The unit remained off line yesterday;
• Calvert Cliffs-2 continued operating at 100 percent power;
• The single-unit Oyster Creek plant in New Jersey was manually taken off line at about 17:00hr local time on Saturday as a precautionary measure;
• All other 22 units in Irene’s path continued operation at full or temporarily reduced power output according to grid stability requirements.
Mr Peterson said: “Highly trained operators and emergency response personnel were stationed at the plants throughout the weekend and were prepared to take actions beyond their usual duties to protect the power plants and communities that surround them.
“In the aftermath of the storm, operators are undertaking complete inspections of nuclear energy facilities to ensure that systems and equipment were not affected by the storm and that the plant’s condition is safe.”
Hurricane Irene made landfall in North Carolina on Saturday and continued its path along the north-eastern US over the weekend. The hurricane has subsequently been downgraded to a tropical storm.
A summary of US nuclear power plant performance during hurricane Irene is on the NEI’s website:
http://www.nei.org/newsandevents/newsreleases/impact-of-hurricane-irene-on-us-nuclear-energy-facilities/
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
US N-Plants Prepared As Hurricane Irene Storms In (News in Brief No. 181, 27 August 2011)
