Progress declares event at N.C. nuke due hurricane

[Khephra]

NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - As Hurricane Isabel approached North Carolina, Progress Energy Inc. (nyse: PGN - news - people) declared an unusual event at its Brunswick nuclear power plant in North Carolina, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in its event notification report on Wednesday.

An unusual event is the lowest of four of the NRC's emergency classifications at U.S. nuclear power plants.

A spokesman for the plant was not immediately available early Wednesday, but earlier this week, spokesman Mike McCracken told Reuters the decision to shut their nuclear units is common industry practice whenever winds in excess of about 74 mph are expected to reach the plant within two hours.

According to the NRC, a hurricane warning was issued, but there was no significant impact to the safety of the plant. The wind speed at the site was 14 miles per hour at about 11 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday.

Storms pose little danger to reactors since they are housed in massive concrete containment buildings, easily capable of withstanding hurricane force winds.

But major storms kick up huge ocean swells that can clog cooling water intake systems at some plants. Debris hurled through the air by strong winds can also cause havoc at the plant's outdoor switchyards, where the megawatts they generate flow into high voltage lines.

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http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2003/09/17/rtr1083805.html

[MrBenchley]

1. FYI

"An unusual event is the lowest of four of the NRC's emergency classifications..."

The next highest (Three-Mile Island size) is "event," and higher than that (Chernobyl) is "insignificant event, hardly worth mentioning".

If the reactor actually melts into a glowing mass and begins eating its way towards the earth's core, it's a "situation."

The good news is that thanks to the Republican party, liability for damages for anytof these is frozen at 1956 dollar levels, ensuring the owners won't be bankrupted (and no, I'm not kidding about that part).

[Kellanved]

2. Yes - nuke power is actually very expensive

If the liability were anywhere close to the real possible damage the owners would have to pay loads of money to the insurances - so this is infact a hidden subsidy; only with this help the myth of the cheap power can be upheld. (BTW it is common practise - most European nations use the same trick).

[MrBenchley]

3. Remember

when these plants were built, the industry was assuring us that a solution would be found to the problem of the waste they generated....the solution turned out to be "stick the taxpayer with the liability for trucking and storing it for the next 90,000 years."

[pansypoo53219]

4. which is why

cheney and Bushit want to go nuke.