The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission will "closely monitor" nuclear power plants in the US East and Northeast beginning late Friday should a winter storm create issues that could cause reactors to shut or reduce power, Neil Sheehan, a spokesman said Thursday in an interview.

AccuWeather and Weather Channel forecasts call for heavy snow late Friday through Saturday from Tennessee east to the Carolinas and north to Massachusetts, with wind gusts above 50 mph.

Sheehan noted that potential issues for nuclear power units, which have arisen during severe rain and snow storms in recent years, are snow, ice and wind damage to large transmission lines, even those distant from a generating unit, and storm surges.

Last year, for example, Entergy's Pilgrim nuclear plant in Plymouth, Massachusetts, had an unplanned shutdown January 27 when off-site power to the plant was lost because of a snowstorm.
The company's Indian Point 3 in Buchanan, New York, and Exelon's Nine Mile Point 1 near Oswego, New York, shut October 29, 2012 when offsite power was lost and switchyard damage, respectively, in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

PSEG's Salem-1 in Hancocks Bridge, New Jersey, shut the same day when the hurricane affected circulating water pumps.

--Jim Ostroff, james.ostroff@platts.com
--Edited by Valarie Jackson, valarie.jackson@platts.com

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