All 3 reactors at nuclear power plant out of service for repairs

[struggle4progress]

... Crews shut down Unit 2 at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station on Monday to repair a pipe that delivers steam to turbines ... Palo Verde's Unit 3 shut down last week as part of its regularly scheduled refueling ... Unit 1 was shut down in late March to allow crews to repair a vibrating pipe that has hampered the reactor's electricity output all year ...

http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4758523&nav=Bsmh

[NMDemDist2]

1. that's right near here in Phoenix

they have a HORRIBLE online record

[struggle4progress]

3. I wonder what they do for energy when the nuclear plants are shut down.

Some seem to think the fact that local winds don't always blow is a nail in the coffin of wind power. But of course no source is always on line.

[Dead_Parrot]

They fall back on local coal plants

Why, would you like to keep them?

[NNadir]

2. Here is a list of 100+ power plant shutdowns in the last year. Most from

weather related events.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/tableb1.html

And what is thought to be a big cause of the hurricanes that dominate these shutdowns? Global climate change. I count 59 of the power plant shutdowns as being weather related. One of the first power plants to come on line after Katrina was Waterford 3 nuclear station. Turkey Point nuclear station took a direct hit from Hurricane Andrew. The plant was ready to restart before the lines to it were repaired.

The rest are dominated by equipment failures.

And what is a big cause of global climate change? The kind of selective thinking that goes gah-gah when one can say "nuclear" and "trouble" in the same sentence. Of course the matter ignores that all kinds of power plant failures occur regularly. That only nuclear plant shut downs (and note that one is for refueling and the other is expected to last for one or two days) is because there are a subset of increasingly strange and distracted people who feel that pointing out every nuclear event strengthens their case. I disagree. I think it makes them look nuts, but that's just my opinion.

And the nuclear mention here is for what reason? That hurricanes are good for power generation? That power stations run better if they're dependent on natural gas from off shore platforms? Wait, let me guess.

Palo Verde has consistently operated at over 80% capacity loading, and being one of the largest power stations in the world, that means something. I note that there are almost no renewable facilities (hydro excepted) that manage 30%. So, if we were going to outlaw power based on reliability, guess which would be the first to go?

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_glance/reactors/palo_verde.html

In fact, Palo Verde routinely produces more electricity than the entire solar output of the United States.

While Palo Verde is shut, for whatever reason, the power will be made up by coal. Only someone who is completely out of his mind would cheer for that.

[struggle4progress]

4. Wouldn't hafta shut em for hurricanes if they hadn't been built in ..

.. hurricane zones ...

[Dead_Parrot]

5. They to be where the people are

living in a hurricane belt really doesn't help...

Incidentally, this is because shifting huge amounts of power over long distance doesn't work too well: something the "we can power NY from wind in the Rockies" crowd should remember... ;)

[struggle4progress]

7. Nonsense. If that were true, Four Corners plant would never have been ..

.. built.

I'm not defending it, of course: I happen to think it's an abomination. But power from there is sent as far away as Texas and California.

[Dead_Parrot]

10. OK, where's that?

sorry, my US geography isn't up to that one! :dunce:

[struggle4progress]

14. www.google.com

[Dead_Parrot]

15. ...

I did that, you silly person. That's why I asked.
================
http://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&q=Four+Corners+nuclear+power&btnG=Search&meta=

Four Corners
Next on 4C. Next on Four Corners... Part Two of "Cash Crop" will be aired on Monday 17 April. ... The Ice Age · Supermax · Who's Afraid of Nuclear Power? ...
www.abc.net.au/4corners/ - 13k - 10 Apr 2006 - Cached - Similar pages

New West Network | Four Corners
Four Corners Stew. When it Comes to Our Public Lands, Call Me a Sagebrush Patriot ... CHEAP NUCLEAR POWER? … Maybe in Walt Disney’s dreams, but in the real ...
www.newwest.net/index.php/city/main/C337/L337 - 106k - Cached - Similar pages

New West Network | Four Corners | Not-so-cheap Nuclear Power ...
New West Network Topics · All Ads · All Events. New West Four Corners ... CHEAP NUCLEAR POWER? … Maybe in Walt Disney’s dreams, but in the real world, ...
www.newwest.net/index.php/city/article/7157/C337/L337 - 67k - Cached - Similar pages
< More results from www.newwest.net >

Welcome to EnhanceTV- Four Corners: Who's Afraid of Nuclear Power?
Is Australia's aversion to nuclear power soundly based? Or are there lessons to be learned from other countries, experience? Four Corners examines how ...
enhancetv.com.au/details/displaytv.php?RecordId=12586134&database=WebPublishing.fp5&layout=web_tv - 32k - Cached - Similar pages

Four Corners Broadband Edition
four corners. headline: the kilwa incident ... Is Australia's aversion to nuclear power soundly based? Or are there lessons to be learned from other ...
abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20050822/ - 9k - Cached - Similar pages
< More results from abc.net.au >

[struggle4progress]

16. *snork*

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=four+corners+plant&btnG=Google+Search

[Dead_Parrot]

17. Thanks...

Wasn't so hard, was it?
Edited my previous post for my being a dick. :) (although most of those results are about growing flowers. :P)

In that particular case, it was also where the fuel is - It was the first mine-mouth generation station to take advantage of the large deposits of sub-bituminous coal in the Four Corners region. - but I notice it's 'catchment' area does not include NY, FL or ND. It's still serving a pretty local population. So nothing new there, then. :D

[NNadir]

6. What?

Never mind, I don't want to know...

I note that every single solar power station shuts down for better than 70% of the time.

You don't post about this, because you are clueless.

[struggle4progress]

8. It's stupid to site nukes in floodplains, atop geologic faults, in coastal

.. areas regularly hit by hurricanes, etc etc etc. Seems to happen with some frequency, though ...

[NNadir]

9. Really? Have you one example of a nuclear power plant destroyed by

weather? By an earthquake? Just one?

Japan has 55 nuclear power plants and experiences frequent earthquakes. Maybe you can report here the lives lost in Japan from nuclear related earthquakes. While your at it, maybe you can compare the number of deaths from this point to the number of deaths from hurricanes in the Western Hemisphere in 2005. What is the ratio, big boy?

Maybe with your scrutiny of nuclear power plants at the expense of ignoring global climate change can comment on this link, big boy:

http://www.nei.org/documents/Fact%20Sheet_Nuclear%20Plants%20Strength%20EP%20Aid%20Katrina%20Response_0905logo.pdf

Is it a lie?

You have some special insight to the number of dead bodies associated with the operation of these three plants?

Again, the nuclear stations in Louisana last year after Hurricane Katrina, an event that many people believe is related to global climate change, were basically ready to operate before the gas plants. They didn't operate mostly because the power lines to them were all destroyed.

What is stupid is to destroy the atmosphere while worrying about every detail of nuclear power plants. Such an approach is irrational. It's not just irrational. It's insane.

You seem to insist that nuclear energy must be risk free. Do you know of any form of energy that is risk free? Just one?

[struggle4progress]

11. Plants are regularly damaged by hurricanes. Sometimes the damage ..

.. has been extensive. Since a standard prediction for global warming is increased severe weather, past history may not be a reliable indicator of commercial nuclear power plant vulnerabilities in coming hurricane seasons.

[NNadir]

12. "May not be?"

Any evidence for this startling claim, or are you just making it up because you think it sounds good?

Do you think that this "may not be" makes you sound smart? Insightful? Knowledgable?

Do you think global climate change "may be" real? What is your alternative to nuclear power? Can you quantify it? The units of energy are exajoules, as I regularly inform your missing buddy.

Do you think that maybe fossil fuels might make global climate change worse, effecting not only nuclear power plants but everything?\

You apparently want to shut down every nuclear plant on earth, all 441 of them, producing the energy that would involve the release of billions of tons of carbon dioxide. What are you going to replace them with, coal boy?

[struggle4progress]

13. You think stronger hurricanes have no different impact on nuclear ..

.. plants than weaker hurricanes?

[NNadir]

18. I think nuclear power plants are safer than their alternatives.

I think raising specious crap about hurricanes and nuclear power plants is fear mongering crap.

Not one nuclear power plant has ever caused a loss of life owing to a hurricane. Period. Not Andrew at Turkey Point. Not Katrina at Waterford or Grand Gulf. Not Rita at South Texas. None. Zero. Nada.

On the other hand, it is arguable that a shortage of nuclear power plants has caused hurricanes.