With Hurricane Florence washing over North Carolina, concerns have been raised regarding the potential damage to the various nuclear reactors in the region, according to an article in Wired, which examines how nuclear plants prepare for disaster.
Looking to assuage any concerns, the officials at the Brunswick plant have taken precautions to ensure they’re ready for whatever they may face as the storm passes over them. Says spokeswoman for Duke Energy Karen Williams, “We’re monitoring the meteorological conditions, and if we have certainty that the winds onsite will reach 73 miles per hour, then we’ll begin an orderly shutdown of the units.”
Duke Energy, the operators of the Brunswick facility, has also taken efforts to ensure sufficient staff is onsite, bringing in facilities to allow workers to remain through the duration, when roads may be unpassable. Inspections have been performed on backup generators and waterproof steel barriers have been installed on doors housing key safety equipment.
These precautions represent new steps in the plants’ safety programs, and are a response to the Fukushima disaster, where an earthquake and tsunami combined to knock both primary and backup equipment offline, leading to a meltdown. In response, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has drafted new rules for the US, to better prepare nuclear plants for extreme events, including large-scale flooding.
Source:
https://www.wired.com/story/a-nuclear-plant-braces-for-impact-with-hurricane-florence/
