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NRC Continues to Respond to Irmaby Moderator |
Roger Hannah
Senior Public Affairs Officer, Region II
Senior Public Affairs Officer, Region II
As
Irma (now a tropical storm) continues its march through the south, the
NRC continues to monitor its path and the nuclear power plants
potentially along that route.
The
Turkey Point Unit 3, in south Florida, remains safely shut down, as it
has been since Saturday. The Turkey Point Unit 4 shut down automatically
just before 7 p.m. Sunday
evening due to a valve issue. The shutdown was uncomplicated, the plant
is in a safe condition, and winds and rain have diminished at the site
such that the plant staff exited their declaration of an unusual event
at 4 a.m.
Three NRC resident inspectors remain at the site, but the agency is now
accessing steps to return to its normal inspection staffing within the
next day or two.
At
St. Lucie, also in Florida, operators are reducing power on Unit 1 due
to salt buildup on insulators in the switchyard that supplies offsite
power and plant employees are working to resolve this situation. St.
Lucie Unit 2 remains at full power. Two NRC resident inspectors remain
at the site, but it is expected that NRC will return to normal
inspection staffing at this site, also within a day or two.
As of Monday
morning, the Region II Incident Response Center staff is monitoring
potential effects from the storm on the Hatch nuclear plant in south
Georgia and the Farley nuclear plant in south Alabama. The two units at
Hatch and the two units at Farley are currently at full power. Even
though the staffs at both sites have completed storm preparations, it
appears that projected winds will not be strong enough to affect plant
operations at these two locations.
The
NRC’s Region II continues to be in monitoring mode and the Incident
Response Center in Atlanta is staffed. However, predicted wind and rain
from the storm has prompted the closure of the Region II office as well
as other federal agencies in the area.
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