«  
  »

Flooding Begins: Already up to half foot of rain around Brunswick, NC nuke plant — Gusts to 62 mph

Published: August 26th, 2011 at 10:01 pm ET
By
Email Article Email Article
34 comments


Minor flooding begins at Irene hits NC coast, Associated Press, August 26, 2011 at 9:50 pm EDT:

[...] Officials say the minor flooding was in Carolina Beach. There are radar indications that up to 6 inches of rain fell in Brunswick County. [...]

The oceanfront pier at Wrightsville Beach recorded sustained winds of 52 mph and a gust of 62 mph by 9 p.m. [...]

Published: August 26th, 2011 at 10:01 pm ET
By
Email Article Email Article
34 comments

Related Posts

  1. Tornado watch near Ft. Calhoun nuke plant, flash flood warning near Cooper nuke plant — Heavy rain making flooding situation worse June 20, 2011
  2. ‘Event’ reported at Ft. Calhoun nuke plant: “Potential flooding issue in the Intake Structure” — “There is one penetration of concern” that could impact water pumps June 17, 2011
  3. Officials in Connecticut warn of giant 16-foot storm surge, with 15-foot waves on top of that — State’s nuclear plant directly exposed on ocean (PHOTOS) October 29, 2012
  4. May 16 report foreshadowed yesterday’s “event” at Calhoun nuke plant: Flooding of Intake Structure could jeopardize abilty to cool reactor June 17, 2011
  5. Report: “Brunswick nuclear plant along the North Carolina coastline will continue to operate throughout the storm” August 26, 2011
August 26th, 2011 | Tags: | Category: US
«  
  »

34 comments to Flooding Begins: Already up to half foot of rain around Brunswick, NC nuke plant — Gusts to 62 mph

  • jump-ball
    August 26, 2011 at 10:15 pm

    Both the NC Brunswick 1 and 2 plants have elevated spent fuel pools; after an ESPV is blown down or torn to shreds and the radiation scattered for 100s of miles around by a tornado, existing and planned elevated pools will be made to go in the ground:

    http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_power/reactor-map/embedded-flash-map.html


    Report Comment

  • xdrfox
    August 26, 2011 at 10:17 pm

    Been there, Got the T-Shirts !


    Report Comment

  • bmurr bmurr
    August 26, 2011 at 10:45 pm

    I don’t understand why this is even posted. the article says nothing about flooding at the plant.


    Report Comment

    • Jebus Jebus
      August 26, 2011 at 11:07 pm

      I don’t there is much that can be disputed in that assesment of the situation surrounding that plant at the moment. The lack of transparency from the officials, warrants the upmost caution if living in that imediate area. I wonder if anyone has a webcam set up across that lake from the plant.


      Report Comment

    • Granny M
      August 26, 2011 at 11:20 pm

      Interesting video. Hoping the multiple worst case scenarios fizzle out. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if just one govt. or corp. spokes person stood up and said, “Here are the problems. Here are the dangers.” Even the dimwits are knowing it’s lies and whitewashing. When truth gets revealed, the outrage is so much worse.


      Report Comment

  • Tacomagroove
    August 26, 2011 at 10:55 pm

    http://pissinontheroses.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html
    FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011

    [ URGENT ] North Anna Nuclear, Hurricane Irene, Personal Evacuation Decision

    A detail analysis of the Lake Anna nuclear plant’s dropping lake levels; decay heat steam discharges; earthquake design limits; and the key indicators that one should evacuate the immediate crisis zone before Hurricane Irene arrives.

    THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2011

    [ALERT] For families Downwind and Downstream of the NORTH ANNA Nuclear Plant; It would be wise to INCREASE Preparations for a Radiological Release.
    New information, most of which is foggy, indicates a new vector for cooling loss at the North Anna Nuclear plant. Working on the presumption that positive information does not remain foggy, wise risk mitigation would indicate that further vigilance and preparation is required by those that might be affected by a radiological release.

    Delving through the fog of officially UN-clarified data, the risks are as follows.

    Risk 1:

    The decay heat steam venting is dropping lake levels at potentially ONE MILLION GALLONS PER MINUTE. Lake levels are already dropping and obviously this cooling mechanism cannot continue indefinitely. Note the freshly dropped lake levels in this photo.

    To resolve this issue the plant must restart electrical generation post haste. Apparently North Anna Nuclear is aware the need for speed in restarting generation, BUT they claim they are hurrying because they want to lower their customers electrical bills.

    “Because the nuclear plants are the lowest-cost source of generation for our customers, we’re making all efforts to return the units to service as soon as possible,”

    RISK 2:

    Despite claims to the contrary, it is exceedingly plausible that the earthquake design limits were exceeded. This probability decreases the likelihood that the plant will restart safely and quickly. It also increases the likelihood of a single point failure in the decay heat steam cooling leading to a radiological escape. All of which increase the magnitude of RISK1 above.

    A North Anna spokesman has stated on television that the plant was designed for a 6.2 earthquake and that they were “ready for this”. To the contrary, because of the shallow nature of the quake, the probability is that ground motion and acceleration exceeded the design limit of the plant (but remained within the ultimate limit).

    It is disturbing that a North Anna representative would declare the plant safe based on a general Qualitative measure such as a 5.8 earthquake being less than a 6.2 earthquake, as opposed to a specific Quantitative measures such as ground motion and acceleration of this quake versus the specific engineering limits for those values. Had the seismographs not been removed from the plant because of budget cuts, some of the fog regarding this issue would be clear-able.

    RISK 3:

    Another Emergency has been declared at North Anna as a result of the 8/25/11 after shock; Event Number: 47196. The report states that “There was no radiological release”. However, that statement is contradicted by reports that “No release of radioactive material occurred beyond the minor releases associated with normal station operations” One has to ask what exactly are normal releases when the plant is operating in an emergency mode, do they mean no more than expected under this type of emergency?

    The fog of Risk3 aside, given that the probability the plant exceeded its design limit from the initial quake, further aftershocks increase the potential of surpassing the ultimate limit of the plant.

    Mitigating factor:

    A mitigating factor for all of these risks is that the quake did not cause massive infrastructure disruption, hence the logistic response capability appears not to be affected.

    Note: Hat tip to ENENEWS for several links

    POSTED BY MS. X AT 2:11 PM 0 COMMENTS
    LABELS: ALERT, RADIOACTIVE, RISK MITIGATION
    WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2011

    [ALERT] North Anna: Be Prepared for Radioactive Leakage Into The Atmosphere
    Based on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Operations Center Event Reports For 08/23/2011 – 08/24/2011, fifteen nuclear plants made emergency notifications related to the 8/23/2011 Virginia earthquake. Out of the 15 different Nuclear plants which made emergency event reports, only the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Plant nuclear operating plant reported that they DID NOT have any radiological releases [Event Number: 47184].

    The most serious of the 15 emergency reports is from the North Anna Power Station in Virginia [Event Number: 47181]. The North Anna station went into complete shutdown as a result the earthquake; it lost all offsite power; it went on emergency backup generators (1 of which failed). The event report states “Decay heat is being removed via the steam dumps to atmosphere”.

    Based on a quick check of the design of the North Anna unit ( a 3 loop Westinghouse), Radioactive core coolant is being pumped to a heat exchanger were it is cooled by feed water. That non-radioactive feed water is turned to steam and released directly into the environment. Under normal conditions the steam is used to power the generator turbine and is NOT exposed to the environment but is returned in a closed loop system.

    In the current situation of direct venting of steam into the atmosphere, the North ANNA plant appears to be operating in a single point of failure mode. Namely, a simple leakage in the heat exchanger (or any seals in the steam generation unit) could result in the escape of radioactive materials directly into the atmosphere via the ongoing decay heat steam venting.

    Given that the nuclear reactor has just experienced an earthquake that appears to be at its design limit, it would be wise to be prepared for direct leakage of radioactive material into the atmosphere via the ongoing decay heat steam venting.

    SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 2011

    ALERT!!! 178 X Background Radiation in Saint Louis Rain

    STAY OUT OF THE RAIN!

    This data may be indicative of a RECENT SIGNIFICANT radiological event in Fukushima.

    The reading was taken at approximately 10:20am on 8/20/11 in Saint Louis Missouri from a vehicle that had driven approximately 4 miles through the trailing edges of a thunderstorm.

    The sample returned a reading of 1.786 mR/hr, which equates to ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY EIGHT times greater than normal background radiation. This reading is almost 3 times greater than the previous high reading of 62x background radiation.

    UPDATED: Video Added
    STAY OUT OF THE RAIN!

    UPDATE 8/23: I have been able to analyze the decay data. Much like the radioactive Sulfur detected in California, based on the amplitude, I suspect this fallout to be TENORM. A follow up video will be forth coming. For more information follow the following link:
    Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (TENORM)

    POSTED BY MS. X AT 11:04 AM 2 COMMENTS
    LABELS: ALERT, FUKUSHIMA, RADIOACTIVE


    Report Comment

  • Tacomagroove
    August 26, 2011 at 10:59 pm

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMpNG4K9qtU

    Anyone else feel that tepco took down the lighting at reactor 4 cause its steaming away constantly…?


    Report Comment

  • Tacomagroove
    August 26, 2011 at 11:03 pm

    BREAKING”
    The Weather Channel says this weekseast coast earthquake was caused by an unknown fault line running under D.C. and through Virginia. It is now being called Obama’s Fault, though Obama will say it’s really Bush’s Fault. Another theory is that it was the founding fathers rolling over in their graves, but I believe what we all thought was an earthquake was actually the effects of a 14.6 trillion dollar check bouncing in Washington. ; ))


    Report Comment

  • StillJill StillJill
    August 26, 2011 at 11:15 pm

    Very funny–can I steal that one? :-)


    Report Comment

  • Nigwil
    August 26, 2011 at 11:29 pm

    Re Risk 1. One million gallons per minute?
    In normal operation the plant takes and returns about 2.2 million gallons a minute.

    But with the core shut down all that’s needed is enough water to boil to steam to dissipate the core’s residual heat. The plant at full power creates about 2.7 MW in the core. At shut down maybe 10% of that – say 0.27 MW.

    My calcs suggest that about 1650 gallons a minute raised from 20C (~60F) and then boiled to steam will take that energy away. Not millions. The lake will not notice that for along time.

    To raise that amount of water to the pressure in the secondary cooling circuit of about 150 bar will take about 2.4 MW in pump energy. A lot, but not in the context of the overall plant demands. The circulator pumps in the primary reactor cooling circuit which must be kept going at all cost are around 6 MW each, so the overall power demand of the site for minimal operation is huge for any set of standby generators. Very ‘delicate’.

    If the operators are not ‘passing red water’ by now they should be. This is a very dodgy situation and with the storm approaching the threat of a sustained loss of external power will be a major worry.

    A classic line from a movie comes to mind: “Provided the boilers don’t blow we will be fine!”


    Report Comment

  • xdrfox
    August 26, 2011 at 11:32 pm

    I-75 “Dead Whale” Sign Creates Confusion
    *PIC*
    MIAMI TWP.- It appears that someone hacked into ODOT’s computer system overnight, changing a flashing road construction sign to read, “Caution Dead Whale.”
    The sign flashed overnight for several hours at NB I-75 at the Austin Boulevard interchange.
    Dayton’s News Source has contacted ODOT regarding the matter. We’ll update the story throughout the day.

    Friday, August 26 2011
    http://fox.daytonsnewssource.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wkef_vid_2528.shtml?wap=0


    Report Comment

  • xdrfox
    August 26, 2011 at 11:50 pm

    N.Y. mayor orders evacuation of flood-prone coastal areas | JTA …

    5 hours ago … New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered a mandatory … ordered a mandatory evacuation of coastal areas prone to flooding in advance of … said that all residents in the evacuation areas must leave by 5 p.m. on Saturday. … we are telling people to go before Shabbos,” Meisels told Vos Iz Neias. …
    http://www.jta.org/news/article/2011/08/26/3089133/ny-mayor-orders-evacuation-of-low-lying-coastal-areas

    Staten Island residents begin complying with Hurricane Irene …

    6 hours ago … Residents of low-lying ‘Zone A’ areas who were told to leave begin … STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — For the first time in city history, residents of flood-prone, … of Ocean Breeze prepared to evacuate to a friend’s in New Jersey. …
    http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/08/staten_island_residents_begin.html

    WGN – U.S. East braces for hurricane, NYC orders evacuations

    4 hours ago … Some New York hospitals in flood-prone areas were already evacuating patients. “We’ve never done a mandatory evacuation before and we …
    http://mobile.wgntv.com/p.p?m=b&a=rp&id=759235&postId=759235&postUserId=30&sessionToken=&catId=5434&curAbsIndex=0&result…


    Report Comment

  • xdrfox
    August 26, 2011 at 11:56 pm

    For a TAKE A LOOK on Irene [ID:nSTORM]

    Reuters Hurricane Tracker r.reuters.com/san78n

    National Hurricane Center http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

    Skeetobite Weather http://www.skeetobiteweather.com

    Weather Underground http://www.wunderground.com/tropical
    &id=759235&postId=759235&postUserId=30&sessionToken=&catId=5434&curAbsIndex=0&result…


    Report Comment

  • Jebus Jebus
    August 27, 2011 at 12:22 am

    Hurricane Irene’s early bands cause power failures and flooding

    When Hurricane Irene was about 140 miles southeast of Wilmington at 11 p.m. Friday, almost 20,000 people were without power in Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties, and emergency responders were busy fielding calls about downed power lines and trees and even complaints about hurricane parties….

    Little should change as the storm churns north, but it was expected to weaken before it made landfall early Saturday near Morehead City.

    The National Weather Service reported that the Category 2 hurricane, which is as large as California, had winds up to 100 mph, and a meteorologist in Wilmington’s weather service office said sustained winds at the local airport measured 45 mph. A 62 mph wind gust was reported at Johnnie Mercers Pier in Wrightsville Beach, and storm surge was expected to raise water levels by as much as 11 feet above ground level.

    http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20110826/ARTICLES/110829831&tc=ix


    Report Comment

«  
  »