Moving Energy Education Forward
LACEY – Operators of the Oyster Creek nuclear reactor shut down the power plant to check and possibly replace five safety valves, plant officials said.
The shutdown was prompted by an inspection of previously removed valves, which showed unexpected wear on two of them and could have caused them to fail, according to plant owner Exelon and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Read MoreIn a New Yorker article on Hurricane Sandy's effect on nuclear plants in its wake, Fairewinds' Arnie Gundersen is cited regarding the Oyster Creek plant, which lost its connection to grid power during the storm, forcing operators to resort to backup generators:
Read MoreGundersen speaks with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now the morning after Hurricane Sandy makes landfall. They discuss the Oyster Creek nuclear plant, which was close to the eye of Hurricane Sandy. The tidal surge at Oyster Creek was within six inches of flooding the service water pumps that cool the nuclear reactor. Several other plants shut down and reverted to their diesel engines for reactor cooling. They also discuss how spent fuel pools are not cooled by diesels - so in the event of a "loss of offsite power," if a plant is shutdown for refueling, the spent fuel pool cannot be cooled.
Read MoreGundersen discusses the likelihood of nuclear plants in the path of Hurricane Sandy to lose off-site electrical power. In this scenario, a plant would be forced to rely on backup diesel generators to cool the reactor. Gundersen says: "Its not a question of the winds from this hurricane blowing the plant down. It's a question of the loss of off-site power. That's exactly what happened after Fukushima Daiichi"
Read MoreFairewinds Energy Education is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to furthering public understanding of nuclear power and nuclear safety related issues.
