Comment

Comment by Galen Young on September 18, 2018 at 3:12pm

Doc Vega -I live in an area where our roads flood sometimes. What else can be done to 'prepare'? We park our cars on higher ground so they don't get washed away, that is about all you can do.

The facility does have generators, the power grid can go down and the facility will always have its own power. They are in a 'hot shutdown' which means at least one generator is running to keep the reactor core heated. As soon as the storm has passed all they have to do is to raise the rods and the power plant will be back online again. What additional 'redundant back up systems' can you think of?

Their only 'emergency' is that the operators can not go home at the end of their workshifts, they have to bunk onsite now.

Comment by Doc Vega on September 18, 2018 at 11:59am

t would seem to me that if they had plenty of time to prepare for the supposed hurricane how is it that something as crucial as a nuclear reactor facility would have redundant back up systems!

Comment by Elissa Snyder on September 17, 2018 at 11:15pm

https://www.nwpb.org/2018/09/17/new-mexico-solar-observatory-reopen...

Comment by Galen Young on September 17, 2018 at 2:30pm

Storms of this magnatude are 'unusual events'.  Shutting down for the magnitude of this storm should be their normal Standard Operating Procedure.

Going to 'hot stand-by mode 3 shutdown' is the preferred mode for them to be in at this time. To go 'cold iron' is a lot more expensive as it requires a host of maintenance procedures to be performed.

The 'emergency' is the storm and its flooding. Plant operators are stuck on-site and can not go home to their families. So long as nobody suddenly has a burst appendix it is not a big deal.

I have worked with hundreds of Reactor Operators, being stuck 'on-site' for 90+ days in normal for them.

:)

Comment by Boris on September 17, 2018 at 1:06pm

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-17/inaccessible-north-caroli...