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bomb cyclone, Boston, coastal flooding, dangers of nuclear, DC, environment, flooding, Indian Point, loss of cooling, loss of power, Massachusetts, New York City, Nor'easter, NRC, nuclear, nuclear disaster, nuclear energy, nuclear power, nuclear reactor cooling, nuclear reactors, nuclear safety, nuclear waste, nuclear waste cooling, plymouth, Power Outages, radioactive waste, risk management, Seabrook, snow, Storm Surge, US, US NRC, USA, water, wind, Winter Storm Riley
Winter Storm Riley – Nor’easter with nuclear power stations (orange skulls) early am EDT am UTC March 3 2018
Not only dangerous, nuclear power stations are unreliable electicity sources in extreme weather. So much for the “baseload power” lies. Worse, they require energy input for cooling, so as not to meltdown. Even though they can’t be turned off, they are supposed to be powered down during extreme weather.
“The storm set in on Friday, bringing winds up to 145 kph (90 mph) and flooding the streets of Boston and nearby coastal towns. More flooding was expected late Saturday, during high tide. In New York and Pennsylvania, the private forecasting service AccuWeather said as much as 46 centimeters (18 inches) of rain had fallen...” (VOA, Saturday March 3, 2018, 6.57 pm)
We don’t know the status of the nuclear power stations impacted by Winter Storm “Bomb Cyclone” Riley. The US NRC did not report their status on Friday morning so we don’t know if they powered down ahead of the storm, or not. The US NRC doesn’t report on weekends.
During the January “Bomb Cyclone” (Storm Grayson) Pilgrim nuclear power station near Boston had a forced shutdown due to loss of power, and Oyster Creek near Philadelphia reduced its power due to low water levels in the cooling canals.
Pilgrim claims to have operated at full power throughout Winter Storm Riley, which is wreckless, and typically so. It is safer to reduce power in advance in an orderly way, in case of loss of power or other problems. As of approximately 6 pm Eastern, Pilgrim Nuclear tweeted: “Many media and public members inquired as to how Pilgrim Station operated during the storm. We remained at 100% throughout the storm…” (This was a bit early to make such a conclusion.)
Around the same time, MEMA reported:
“MASSACHUSETTS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS STATEMENT
DATE: March 3rd, 2018
TIME: 6:30 PM
RE: Long Duration Coastal Storm Impacts
[…]
As of 4:15 this afternoon, Coastal Zone Management has received 264 reports regarding the level of damage in 31 communities for today. Reports include widespread flooding and overwash of coastal roads, buildings, and infrastructure. There was damage to buildings reported in Salisbury, Rockport, Marblehead, Scituate, Plymouth, Sandwich and Barnstable. There was also damage to floats, piers and docks in many locations along the coast. Storm Team members have not been able to conduct assessments in all areas due to high water that has not receded.
Public Safety
• Town of Marshfield:
Marshfield reports that the local travel ban has been downgraded to a travel advisory….” Excerpted from here: https://www.facebook.com/MassachusettsEMA/posts/10155041392882331
They were expecting high winds and snow with both of these “Bomb Cyclones” leading to power outages and more. Why didn’t Pilgrim power down ahead in an orderly manner for the January one or this one like nuclear power stations are supposed to do for hurricanes? Did the other nuclear power stations reduce power for Winter Storm Riley? Did they lose grid connection?
Why would they choose to wrecklessly leave nuclear power stations at full power for “Bomb Cyclone Riley”? Powering down means loss of profit and Price Anderson limits their liability: https://miningawareness.wordpress.com/2015/05/09/price-anderson-act-billions-in-bailout-for-nuclear-disasters/
Nothing on the web site, nor their twitter nor Entergy twitter regarding Indian Point Nuclear Power Station, near New York City, even though it has the same owner (Entergy) as Pilgrim.
From VOA:
“Nearly 2 Million Homes, Businesses Still Without Power After East Coast Storm
March 03, 2018 6:57 PM VOA News
Nearly 2 million households and businesses remained without power Saturday on the U.S. East Coast after a heavy storm system brought rain, snow and hurricane-force winds to states from Maine, where the governor declared a state of emergency, all the way to North Carolina.
Seven deaths were reported as a result of trees falling during the storm, in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Maine Governor Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency on Saturday, as did the governors of Virginia and Maryland a day earlier. The declaration gives those states access to federal funds to help with storm recovery. Baker said the National Guard was deployed in parts of Maine to evacuate and rescue people in hard-hit areas.
By late Saturday, Amtrak train service suspended during the storm had begun again, although with delays. More than a quarter of flights were canceled in and out of airports in New York and Boston.
The storm set in on Friday, bringing winds up to 145 kph (90 mph) and flooding the streets of Boston and nearby coastal towns. More flooding was expected late Saturday, during high tide.
In New York and Pennsylvania, the private forecasting service AccuWeather said as much as 46 centimeters (18 inches) of rain had fallen.
And in upstate New York, some areas were hit with a meter (3.2 feet) of snow.
Meteorologists nicknamed the storm a “bomb cyclone,” the second such phenomenon in two months, named for how quickly the barometric pressure falls during such an event. https://www.voanews.com/a/two-million-homes-businesses-without-power-after-east-coast-storm/4279221.html
A stupid place to put nuclear power stations – hurricanes, winter storms and high population.
In January at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station not very far from Boston Mass: “On January 4, 2018, at 1410 hours EST, with the reactor at approximately 100 percent power and steady state conditions, the winter storm across the Northeast caused the loss of offsite 345 kV Line 342. Reactor power was reduced to approximately 81 percent and a procedurally required manual reactor scram was initiated. All control rods fully inserted…..“As a result of the reactor scram, indicated reactor water level decreased, as expected, to less than +12 inches resulting in automatic actuation of the Primary Containment Isolation Systems for Group II – Primary Containment Isolation and Reactor Building Isolation System, and Group VI – Reactor Water Cleanup System….” https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/event/2018/20180105en.html
And, in New Jersey: “Low Tides, High Winds Spur N.J. Nuclear Plant to Reduce Power“, January 06, 2018 9:39 PM https://www.voanews.com/a/tides-winds-spur-new-jersey-nuclear-plant-reduce-power/4196721.html
Pilgrim Nuclear Near Boston Mass:
“MANUAL REACTOR SCRAM DUE TO PARTIAL LOSS OF OFFSITE POWER DURING WINTER STORM
“On January 4, 2018, at 1410 hours EST, with the reactor at approximately 100 percent power and steady state conditions, the winter storm across the Northeast caused the loss of offsite 345 kV Line 342. Reactor power was reduced to approximately 81 percent and a procedurally required manual reactor scram was initiated. All control rods fully inserted.
“As a result of the reactor scram, indicated reactor water level decreased, as expected, to less than +12 inches resulting in automatic actuation of the Primary Containment Isolation Systems for Group II – Primary Containment Isolation and Reactor Building Isolation System, and Group VI – Reactor Water Cleanup System.
“Reactor Water Level was restored to the normal operating band. The Primary Containment Isolation Systems have been reset. The Reactor Protection System signal has been reset.
“Following the reactor scram, the non-safety related Control Rod Drive Pump “B” tripped on low suction pressure. Control Rod Drive Pump “A” was placed in service. All other systems operated as expected, in accordance with design.
“This event is reportable per the requirements of Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 50.72 (b)(2)(iv)(B) – “RPS Actuation” and 10 CFR 50.72 (b)(3)(iv)(A) – “Specified System Actuation.” ….
The main steam isolation valves are open with decay heat being removed via steam to the main condenser.
Offsite power is still available from 345kV line 355. As a contingency, emergency diesel generators are running and powering safety busses per licensee procedure.
The licensee notified the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The licensee will be notifying the town of Plymouth as part of their local notifications. The licensee will be issuing a press release.”
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/event/2018/20180105en.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20180106041052/http://forecast.weather.gov/product.php?site=NWS&issuedby=BOX&product=PNS&format=txt&version=5&glossary=0
Nuclear “events” page: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/event/en.html
Oyster Creek Near Philadelphia PA:
Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating station is located near the New Jersey coast, around 50 miles east of Philadelphia, PA, and 75 miles south of NYC. On Saturday, January 6, Exelon reported in a press release that “Operators at the station are closely monitoring a host of environmental conditions and making power level adjustments to ensure safety and minimize impact on aquatic life./ Earlier this morning, operators reduced power and declared an Unusual Event as unusually low tides and high winds impacted water levels in the bay and subsequently, the plant’s intake canal. Minimum water levels were established as one of many conservative measures to ensure that operators have access to multiple and redundant sources of cooling water in the event of an emergent shutdown.” (According to the VOA news article the “unusual event was at 5.25 am Saturday)
Mining Awareness + 
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