Salem Nuke Plant
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Salem 2 was already down for refueling. I have a friend in the area (that weathered the storm fine) working the outage. He along with others were "unscheduled" three days ago and awaiting a call to go back.
Heard on Good Morning America that Oyster Creek reported 6' high water in the plant but there was no danger as they were already shut down for a refueling outage. I think GMA got their facts wrong as to which plant was already down for refueling.
Haven't hear anything about the other plants...
zog
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Salem Unit 1 was manually shut down by plant operators at about 1:10 a.m. Tuesday as a result of circulating-water pumps being affected by high river level and debris in the waterway. The circulating-water system is used to cool down steam generated by the reactor; it is a closed system that does not come into contact with any radioactivity.
Nine Mile Point 1 underwent an automatic shutdown at about 9 p.m. Monday when an electrical fault occurred on power lines used to send power to the grid. It is likely a storm-related event, but the plant’s operators are still evaluating the cause. All plant safety systems responded as designed and the shutdown was safely carried out. Meanwhile, Nine Mile Point 2 experienced a loss of one of two incoming off-site power lines as a result of the fault. One of the plant’s emergency diesel generators started in response to generate power usually provided by the line. Nine Mile Point 2 remained at full power.
Indian Point 3 automatically shut down at about 10:40 p.m. Monday in response to electrical grid disturbances caused by the storm. All safety systems responded as designed and the unit was placed in a safe shutdown condition.
At Oyster Creek, the Alert was declared at approximately 8:45 p.m. An alert is the second-lowest level of emergency classification used by the NRC. The Alert was preceded by an “Unusual Event” at about 7 p.m. when the water level first reached a minimum high water level criteria. The water level rose due to a combination of a rising tide, wind direction and storm surge. Oyster Creek was shut down for a refueling and maintenance outage prior to the storm and the reactor remains out of service.
No issues at Limerick that I have been notified of, however theydo have a team from the NRC on site as a precaution, as all the plants in Sandys path have had since Sunday.
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Thanks Zog I appreciate the well thought out response. I remember a similar response just before the Fukushima Daiichi event? Somehow I'm not at ease. Maybe because its so close this time.
What is the purpose of that cooling system Zog and what happens if it fails?
What is the purpose of that cooling system Zog and what happens if it fails?
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zog
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- Charlotte, NC
Don't start with that, big difference between the way Japan and the US oversee nuclear operations. Don't blame me for the misinformation TEPCO released. But the procedures of shutting down due to off site power disturbances is a direct result of new rules the NRC has implements following the Fukushima Daiichi event. Pre-Fukushima Daiichi, Indian point would likely still be online.
Why don't they just fire up all those solar plants to help the 4M without power? Oh yeah, it would take enough panels to cover Texas and wouldn't work anyways because it is cloudy and raining.
I don't have the time to explain heat transfer and fluid flow theory to you today but in a nutshell the cooling system threatened here is for condensing steam in the secondary loop, which has nothing to do with the reactor when it is shut down. The effect is no different than it would be at a coal fired plant.
hillbilly1
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- North Georgia mountains
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zog
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- Charlotte, NC
Just got update on Limerick a minute ago, Limerick Unit 1?s power was reduced to about 50 percent and Limerick Unit 2?s to about 25 percent in response to low electrical demands on the grid because of storm-related power outages.
Why don't they just fire up all those solar plants to help the 4M without power? Oh yeah, it would take enough panels to cover Texas and wouldn't work anyways because it is cloudy and raining.
Actually Zog, just three times the size of Delaware, about 7,467 sq miles or say 86 miles on a side. In Arizona or New Mexico that is the size of a small county. Still, one hel* of a large area at current level of technology.
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Why don't they just fire up all those solar plants to help the 4M without power? Oh yeah, it would take enough panels to cover Texas and wouldn't work anyways because it is cloudy and raining.
Actually Zog, just three times the size of Delaware, about 7,467 sq miles or say 86 miles on a side. In Arizona or New Mexico that is the size of a small county. Still, one hel* of a large area at current level of technology.
Or a whole bunch of 10x10 squares.
Then add micro wind, micro hydro, micro geothermal fuel cells etc.. We could be a few generations away from abandoning the grid altogether and none of it melts down or requires proliferation treaties.
The cooling systems are designed to be fairly self-contained. However, they do have to make up for the released vapor from the cooling towers.
Oyster Creek is a boiling water reactor (BWR), while Salem 1 & 2 are presurized water reactors (PWR). You can get the basics here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_water_reactor
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressurized_water_reactor
For another write up of nuclear events:
http://nuclearstreet.com/nuclear_po...nt-after-hurricane-sandy-flooding-103002.aspx
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zog
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- Charlotte, NC
You know, I regret ever answering any questions here. Should have known better in the PV forum.
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- Chapel Hill, NC
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- Retired Electrical Contractor
You two guys are never going to see eye to eye on this issue. That is okay and there is no need to get worked up about it. I also am not comfortable with Nuke plant and wish we had gone solar back in the 80's when we started to but dropped it. I am also not convinced solar has all the cost benefits worked out yet. The answer is to train people to conserve. I am notorious for turning off lights when I leave a room. I even do it to my customers when I pass a room with lights on. It drives me nuts to see these McMansion with 8 floods burning all night long and sometimes during the day.
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