Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire

Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Hurricane's & US Nuclear Plants by Rod Adams

Who can forget Andrew's hit on Turkey Point? That was a devastating Category 4 storm that essentially wiped Homestead off of the map, and did extensive damage to the site.

"Hurricane Andrew is historic because this is the first time that a hurricane
significantly affected a commercial nuclear power plant.  The eye of the
storm, with sustained winds of up to 233 kilometers per hour (km/h) [145 miles
per hour (mph)] and gusts of 282 km/h (175 mph), passed over the Turkey Point
site and caused extensive onsite and offsite damage.

The onsite damage included loss of all offsite power for more than 5 days,
complete loss of communication systems, closing of the access road, and damage
to the fire protection and security systems and warehouse facilities.
However, despite the intensity of the hurricane and the age of the plant,
onsite damage was limited to fire protection, security, and several non-
safety-related systems and structures.  There was no damage to the safety-
related systems except for minor water intrusion and some damage to insulation
and paint, and there was no radioactive release to the environment.  The units
remained in a stable condition and functioned as designed.  "

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/gen-comm/info-notices/1993/in93053.html

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