Ken Silverstein | Oct 31, 2012

Roughly a third of the nation’s nuclear plants got hugged by Hurricane Sandy and according to the Nuclear Regulator Commission, they performed as expected. That should not surprise anyone as those facilities have been constructed here to withstand such an onslaught.

Altogether, 34 out of 104 nuclear facilities that stretch from South Carolina to Vermont were in the path of Hurricane Sandy, which hit New York and New Jersey on Monday with wind speeds of 80 miles-per-hour. And while the high-winds and flood waters knocked out the electricity of 7 million people living in 13 states, the nuclear units lived up to their promise. And those that got directly clipped, either shut down or remained off-line -- as they are supposed to do.

According to the nuclear commission, three reactors experienced a shut down while a fourth plant in New Jersey is off-line but has been taken off “alert.” The three that shut down are Nine Mile Point 1 in upstate New York, Indian Point 3 located just outside of New York City and Salem Unit 1 in New Jersey. The one in upstate New York and the one just outside New York City were automatically shut down on Monday evening. The New Jersey plant was manually taken off line very early on Tuesday morning.

The plant that had been on alert is Oyster Creek in New Jersey, an hour from Philadelphia. Such an alert was sent out because rising waters were encroaching on the water pumps used to cool the spent fuel. The plant, which had shut down a week earlier to refuel and to maintain, must still continually cool that stored waste.

The NRC says that it has now withdrawn its “alert” status, noting that the water level has been dropping. It says that the Oyster Creek unit had “redundant” back up sources to cool the stored fuel. An “alert” means that either events are in process or that they have actually occurred, all of which could “degrade” plant safety. It is the second stage of a four-stage warning system.  

Oyster Creek has been designed to endure severe storm conditions, says Exelon Corp. that owns the plant. It can withstand floods and extremely high winds. Storm preparedness plans are continuously reviewed and modifications are made based on lessons learned from industry events.

“Safety is our number one priority,” says Oyster Creek Site VP Michael Massaro. “We are prepared to protect our plant, our workers and the public no matter what this storm throws at us. In its 42 years of operations, Oyster Creek has withstood its share of severe weather and our storm preparations this week will ensure our readiness.”

Commitment Continues

In light of the Japanese nuclear accident in March 2011, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has released a study and recommends that the 104 reactors here get scrutinized every 10 years for seismic and flooding risks.

That includes routine inspections to ensure that the vulnerabilities of each and every plant are fully understood. Plants would furthermore be required to have licensed, back-up emergency equipment to ensure that the cooling pools containing fuel rods would continue to operate in the event of a power failure.

Policymakers also appear committed to building new nuclear generation: President Obama is trying to increase the loan guarantees given to nuclear developers as well as include nuclear power in a clean power requirement. Meantime, the U.S. Senate has introduced bills that would financially assist the developers of small nuclear reactors of 300 megawatts, compared to the base-load size of 1,000 megawatts.

The U.S. Senate is furthermore working on legislation to provide the funding to build two interim storage sites to house spent nuclear fuel. And, finally, Congress is trying to hammer out a bill that would give funding to fourth generation nuclear reactors, which advocates say reduces the odds of radioactive leaks to almost zero.

But the current fleet is well-equipped to handle Mother Nature: “Our facilities’ ability to weather the strongest Atlantic tropical storm on record is due to rigorous precautions,” says Marvin Fertel, chief executive of the Nuclear Energy Institute, including using weather-tight doors. “Each plant site also has numerous emergency backup diesel generators that are tested and ready to provide electricity for critical operations if electric power from the grid is lost.”

Hurricane Sandy gave the country its best shot. And some of the U.S. population is still reeling from the super-storm. But the nation’s nuclear energy plants lining the East Coast held up well, giving increased assurance to both policymakers and customers that nuclear energy here is safe and reliable.


EnergyBiz Insider has been awarded the Gold for Original Web Commentary presented by the American Society of Business Press Editors. The column is also the Winner of the 2011 Online Column category awarded by Media Industry News, MIN. Ken Silverstein has been honored as one of MIN’s Most Intriguing People in Media.

Twitter: @Ken_Silverstein

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