Nuclear powerHurricane Sandy offered support for reliance on nuclear power
A Scientific American writer is impressed with the way nuclear power facilities were able safely to withstand the wrath of Hurricane Sandy; the lesson he draws from this experience: “Global warming is increasing the probability and destructiveness of extreme weather events like Sandy. (I don’t see the point of dithering over this claim any more.) The last thing we should do in the face of this threat is abandon nuclear energy. If anything, we need more nuclear power, not less, to curb global warming”
John Horgan, a supporter nuclear power, writes in Scientific American about the lessons he drew from Hurricane Sandy.
He summarized the main facts, as offered by the Nuclear Energy Institute (an industry group). Sandy passed over a total of thirty reactors in states ranging from North Carolina to Vermont. Of these, seven had been shut down before the storm for refueling or inspection; twenty-four kept generating power throughout the storm (although in some cases at reduced levels); three were shut down during the storm because of high water levels or irregularities in the electrical grid.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) also issued an “alert” at the Oyster Creek plant in Lacey Township, New Jersey, which had been shut down for refueling, because of high water levels at the facility. Indian Point 3 was one of the reactors shut down because of problems in the grid. The other Indian Point reactor operated at full power throughout the storm.
Horgan notes that different observers spun these facts in different ways. The president of the Nuclear Energy Institute, Marvin Fertel, said: “Hurricane Sandy once again demonstrates the robust construction of nuclear energy facilities, which are built to withstand extreme flooding and hurricane-force winds that are beyond that historically reported for each area.”
“‘Frankenstorm’ Causes Only Minor Irregularities at Affected Nuclear Plants,” Bill Sweet wrote in IEEE Spectrum, an engineering magazine. “All in all, safety and protection systems appear to have worked as intended,” sweet concluded.
Horgan’s own conclusions:
So here are the lessons that I draw from Sandy. Global warming is increasing the probability and destructiveness of extreme weather events like Sandy. (I don’t see the point of dithering over this claim any more.) The last thing we should do in the face of this threat is abandon nuclear energy. If anything, we need more nuclear power, not less, to curb global warming. But we must also do more to ensure that reactors can safely weather future Frankenstorms.
