Washington, U.S.A. — Thirty-four nuclear energy facilities in the path of Hurricane Sandy have responded well and safely to this powerful storm, demonstrating their resilience against severe natural forces.

Careful planning and comprehensive preparations days in advance of the storm paid off at all of the facilities, which were prepared to take the steps necessary to maintain safety against high winds, record flooding and disturbances on the regional electric grid. Highly trained reactor operators and emergency response personnel stationed at the plants throughout the storm were able to take actions beyond their usual duties to protect the power plants and communities that surround them. As Hurricane Sandy moves beyond the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states after knocking out electricity to seven million customers in 13 states, nuclear facility operators are conducting thorough inspections to ensure that all systems and equipment are ready to maintain the facilities in a safe condition.

Of the 34 nuclear facilities from South Carolina to Vermont in Hurricane Sandy’s path, 24 continued to operate safely and generate electricity throughout the event. Seven were already shut down for refueling or inspection, and three in New Jersey or New York safely shut down, as designed, because of storm conditions or grid disturbances. Inspectors from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission have been stationed at each nuclear energy facility to oversee preparation for and recovery from the storm.

“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,” said Marvin S. Fertel, president and chief executive officer at the Nuclear Energy Institute. “Beyond the physical strength of these nuclear power plants, the professional crews that operate and maintain them take exacting precautions as significant storms approach. They also coordinate with local, state and federal emergency response officials.

“Our facilities’ ability to weather the strongest Atlantic tropical storm on record is due to rigorous precautions taken in advance of the storm. In the days prior to Sandy storming the Atlantic coast, nuclear plant operators took a series of actions outlined in their emergency preparedness plans,” Fertel said. “These include securing or moving any equipment that could possibly become airborne due to high winds and verifying that weather-tight doors and water intakes are prepared. Each plant site also has numerous emergency backup diesel generators that are tested and ready to provide electricity for critical operations if electric power from the grid is lost.”

As a precaution, a reactor will be shut down at least two hours before the onset of hurricane-force winds at the site, typically between 70 and 75 miles per hour. If there is a loss of off-site power during or following a hurricane, reactors automatically shut down as a precaution and the emergency backup diesel generators will begin operating to provide electrical power to plant safety systems.

“Actions taken by companies operating reactors in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast once again demonstrate that nuclear energy facilities are well protected against extreme natural events,” Fertel said.

In 2011, 24 reactors at 15 facilities from North Carolina to New England safely withstood Hurricane Irene, a category 3 hurricane. In 2005, Entergy safely shut down Waterford 3 in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, a category 5 hurricane, knocked out off-site power and damaged the regional electrical infrastructure. Florida Power & Light in 2004 safely shut down St. Lucie 1 and 2 in Florida after Hurricane Jeanne caused a loss of off-site power.

During Hurricane Sandy, Exelon’s Oyster Creek reactor in New Jersey, which was shut down before the storm for a refueling outage, declared an alert on October 29. The alert, the second lowest of four Nuclear Regulatory Commission action levels, was in response to high water levels at the facility’s cooling water intake structure. Exelon is in the process of restoring off-site power to the facility. Until then, Oyster Creek is being safely powered by backup diesel-driven electrical generators that have fuel to power the reactor’s safety systems for more than two weeks. The plant’s reactor and used fuel storage pool have ample water supplies for cooling.

The following is a summary of U.S. nuclear power plant performance during Hurricane Sandy (as of 11 a.m. October 30).

North Carolina:
Brunswick 1 and 2—continued operating at 100 percent power.

Virginia:
Surry 1 and 2—continued operating at 100 percent power
North Anna 1 and 2—continued operating at 100 percent power.

Maryland:
Calvert Cliffs 1 and 2—continued operating at 100 percent power.

New Jersey:
Oyster Creek—shut down for refueling outage; alert declared October 29 due to high water level at water intake structure
Hope Creek 1—continued operating at 100 percent power
Salem 1—manual safe shut down from 100 percent power on October 30 due to high water level at water intake structure
Salem 2—shut down for refueling outage.

Pennsylvania:
Peach Bottom 2 and 3—continued operating at 100 percent power
Three Mile Island 1—continued operating at 100 percent power
Limerick 1 and 2—safely reduced power from 100 percent to 50 percent and 22 percent respectively on October 30 due to storm effects and at the request of the regional electric grid operator
Beaver Valley 1—continued operating at 100 percent power
Beaver Valley 2—shut down for refueling outage
Susquehanna 1—shut down for turbine inspection
Susquehanna 2—continued operating at 75 percent power.

Ohio:
Perry 1—safely reduced power from 100 percent to 91 percent on October 30 at the request of the regional electric grid operator
Davis-Besse—continued operating at 100 percent power.

New York:
Indian Point 2—continued operating at 100 percent power
Indian Point 3—manual safe shut down from 100 percent power on October 30 due to an electric grid disruption
Ginna—shut down for refueling outage
Fitzpatrick—continued operating at 100 percent power
Nine Mile Point 1—manual safe shut down from 100 percent power on October 29 due to an electric grid disruption
Nine Mile Point 2—continued operating at 100 percent power.

Connecticut:
Millstone 2—shut down for refueling outage
Millstone 3—safely reduced power from 100 percent to 75 percent on October 29 at the request of the electric grid operator.

Massachusetts:
Pilgrim 1—continued operating at 100 percent power.

New Hampshire:
Seabrook 1—shut down for refueling outage, but safely restarted October 30 and is at 20 percent power.

Vermont:
Vermont Yankee—safely reduced power from 100 percent to 90 percent on October 30 at the request of the regional electric grid operator.

Nuclear power plants operating in 31 states provide electricity to one of every five U.S. homes and businesses. Nuclear energy produces more electricity than any other source in Connecticut, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Jersey, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia.

Nuclear energy facilities are designed to withstand natural occurrences greater than those encountered in the regions where they are located. They are built to withstand floods, earthquakes and high winds, and have numerous safety systems that will operate and safely shut the reactor down in the event of a loss of off-site power.

U.S. nuclear energy facilities have a long history of successfully and safely responding to natural challenges.

The Nuclear Energy Institute is the nuclear energy industry’s policy organization. This news release and additional information about nuclear energy are available at www.nei.org.

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Exelon Nuclear has added seven mobile, high-volume diesel-driven pumps at its nuclear energy facilities, among thousands of equipment purchases, upgrades, and validations completed at Exelon’s 10 plants in the year following the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Exelon technical experts have verified readiness of more than 1,700 other pieces of equipment; inspected more than 1,900 flood barriers and seals; and invested more than 43,000 worker hours checking and testing equipment and procedures that might be needed in an emergency.

“We have a responsibility to communicate what we are doing as a company to learn from the lessons following the tragedy in Japan and we take that responsibility seriously. Our top priority is to assure the continued safe and reliable production of electricity at our nuclear facilities in Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey,” said Mike Pacilio, president and chief nuclear officer of Exelon Nuclear.

“Since last March, we have taken the learnings from Fukushima, critically assessed our operations and taken immediate actions,” he said. “We have additional safety measures planned for Exelon and the entire U.S. nuclear industry in the months ahead with additional guidance being issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It is critical that we always be a learning organization dedicated to the safety of our facilities.”

The completed actions represent just a portion of the inspections, upgrades, and other work undertaken by Exelon Nuclear following the Fukushima-Daiichi disaster. The company operates the largest fleet of commercial nuclear facilities in the U.S., with 17 reactors at 10 sites.

Within a week of the March 11, 2011, events, teams of engineers and technical experts from Exelon Nuclear and others in the industry traveled to Japan to provide expertise and to begin understanding as many lessons as possible from the experience. The primary lesson: expect the unexpected, and prepare for the unimaginable.

Learnings from Fukushima have translated into extensive reviews of equipment, structures, and procedures; purchases of additional backup emergency equipment; updates of emergency procedures; and additions to emergency training. At Exelon, the overriding goal is to reaffirm that its nuclear facilities and the professionals who operate and maintain them are prepared to deal with even the most severe unpredictable events.

Among other tasks completed over the past 12 months, Exelon Nuclear engineers and experts have:

• Revised more than 1,300 safety procedures and guidelines, and created new ones, based on Fukushima lessons.
• Verified the capability of all sites to withstand the most severe floods for their areas, and are in the process of re-evaluating base assumptions about maximum historical flooding.
• Broadened operator training to incorporate lessons from Fukushima.
• Inspected and validated the seismic supports and restraints for thousands of pieces of equipment and pipes.

Beyond the actions listed, in February of 2012, Exelon and the other U.S. nuclear operating companies unanimously agreed to purchase or order additional safety equipment for their plants by March 31. This includes emergency and portable equipment such as diesel driven pumps, electric generators, hoses, fittings, communications gear, and other equipment.

Well before the events at Fukushima, Exelon Nuclear facilities had multiple physical barriers and layers of backup safety systems to ensure safe operations even in extreme events, including floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes. Equipment purchases and work over the past year has strengthened those barriers and systems, and enhancements will continue for years.

All Exelon Nuclear facilities are protected from flooding by watertight doors, elevation of equipment above flood levels and specially engineered flood barriers. All sites can automatically and safely shut down and keep the fuel cooled even without electricity from the grid, using massive backup power generators that have second, third and fourth layers of backups. Reactors and other critical components are protected by concrete walls up to five-feet thick. All facilities undergo frequent emergency training and exercises involving government emergency response agencies at all levels.

Exelon Nuclear’s emergency operating procedures are constantly tested, challenged, and simulated to ensure that they will work properly when needed. Such drills are overseen by the NRC with NRC inspectors stationed at all U.S. nuclear facilities on a full–time basis.

Over the last twelve months, the U.S. nuclear industry has pooled resources to ensure the lessons fromJapan are systematically gathered, analyzed, and implemented. The process identified short and long-term actions that further increase the margin of safety at U.S. nuclear facilities.

“Exelon Nuclear is dedicated to full transparency,” said Pacilio. “We know that the more the public knows about the safety of the U.S. nuclear industry, the more confident they feel about nuclear power as a source of safe, abundant, and clean energy.”

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/m-i-k-e/

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