America's oldest nuclear power plant is on alert

Mods move if in wrong place plz...

America's oldest nuclear power plant is on alert after waters reached high levels. Oyster Creek in Lacey Township, New Jersey, was already offline for maintenance but declared "an unusual event" after storm waters increased. Two hours later, at 9pm ET, an "alert" was issued, the second-lowest in a four-tiered warning system. Officials say the water is likely to recede in a couple of hours

(0320 hours)

Source

Oyster Creek, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Atlantic City, generates 630 megawatts (MW), or enough electricity to power 600,000 households. Situated about a mile inland from the brackish inlet of the Atlantic Ocean known as Barnegat Bay, it shares the same design as Japan's tsunami-crippled coastal nuclear plant, Fukushima Daiichi. But industry officials and regulators argued today that Oyster Creek and two dozen other nuclear plants in the path of the unprecedented storm were prepared to withstand the worst. Oyster Creek declared an alert Monday night, citing "water exceeding certain high water level criteria in the plant’s water intake structure," according to a release from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

So it shares the same design as Japan's Fukushima.

Preparations began at Oyster Creek "as soon as we learned the storm had even the smallest potential of crossing our path," said Suzanne D'Ambrosio, spokeswoman for Exelon, the plant operator. The plant, in fact, is not generating power; it was shut down last week for refueling, a process that takes place once every two years. Nevertheless, she said about 300 workers are sequestered at the plant to shepherd it through the storm, even as many of the surrounding areas were evacuated, including Long Beach Island, the barrier island that separates the bay from the Atlantic. "We are prepared to protect our plant, our workers and the public no matter what this storm throws at us," said Oyster Creek Site Vice President Michael Massaro, in a statement.

When winds greater than 75 miles per hour are expected, U.S. nuclear power plants are required to shut down. This is not for fear that the winds will damage the plant, but because of the likelihood that the surrounding electrical grid will fail, forcing it to rely on backup diesel generators to power its cooling systems. Oyster Creek shut down for this reason in August 2011 when Hurricane Irene whipped the Atlantic coast. "This is nothing new—these plants have been through it all before, tornadoes, high winds, flooding conditions," Kaufmann said. In the wake of Fukushima, the U.S. nuclear industry has pledged to bring additional backup equipment such as generators, pumps, hoses, and batteries to keep plants operating in case of loss of power or water, but that deployment is still under way.

Source

NJ Nuke Plant Waters Rising

Apparently, Oyster Creek in Lacey Township, N.J., was already offline for regular maintenance before Sandy, a superstorm downgraded Monday night from a hurricane, slammed the East Coast.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says an "unusual event" was declared around 7 p.m. when water reached a high level. The situation was upgraded less than two hours later to an "alert," the second-lowest in a four-tiered warning system. Federal officials say all nuclear plants are still in safe condition. They say water levels near Oyster Creek, which is along the Atlantic Ocean, will likely recede within a few hours. Oyster Creek went online in 1969 and provides 9 percent of New Jersey's electricity.

Source

Wonderful.

Member Liberal1984 made an ATS thread titled "26 Nuclear Plants Under Threat from Sandy Hurricane" dated 29/10/12.

Hope there aren't any more to come.


ATS THREAD

There goes my sleep.

So if one actually goes in the northeast, (Hope to God not!) then we've got a nuclear problem for the Atlantic just as there is for the Pacific ocean.

All this makes me sad...

Another source...

www.nasdaq.com...


WSJ: Alert Declared at Exelon New Jersey Nuclear Plant -NRC

By Ryan Tracy

WASHINGTON--The Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in New Jersey declared an alert due to high water levels in its water intake structure, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday evening.

The plant in Lacey, N.J. was already shut down for refueling prior to Hurricane Sandy moving into the state Monday. The NRC said the water levels "exceeded certain high water level criteria" amid a rising tide, heavy winds and surging waves.

"It's anticipated that water levels will begin to abate within the next several hours," the NRC said in a press release.

The plant is operated by Exelon Corp. (EXC).

The NRC said no nuclear plants had shut down as a result of the storm as of 9 p.m. Eastern time Monday.

Write to Ryan Tracy at [email protected]

I am thinking that in light of all the recent disasters in the US it would be a good idea to have passports at ready, well I just looked into it and it could be more detailed than I thought.

First thing was to look at the website for answers to applications:
travel.state.gov...

When I discovered that I could not do it by mail because of my expired and lost passport I called the number listed on the link above.

Seems it is not as easy or cheap as it once was to apply. I also found out that if I took my family out of the country to either Mexico or Canada, (without a passport or card) that I could pass over but would not be allowed to cross back into the US...

Also if there is an emergency and say for instance we needed to be air lifted back we would need an actual passport verses the cheaper card that they now can issue.

the cost for 5 people to get the books would be far more than I can afford and yet the cards are only good for ground or sea travel.

I really feel strongly to have my ducks in a row and one of the most important 'preps' would have to include travel out of the country in the event of a major nuclear event or spill.

Just like guns in the hands of the civilian population, nuclear energy is safe. See: World War II

The irony of the US being 'nuked' by its own reactors, beating the Iranians to the punch, is not lost on this random, non entity poster...

Originally posted by Sablicious
The irony of the US being 'nuked' by its own reactors, beating the Iranians to the punch, is not lost on this random, non entity poster...

Greetings:

Your words have a particular meaning:

America's Being Nuked - Can We Together Stop the Madness Before It's Too Late?

and this:

Could Hurricane Sandy be New York’s Fukushima?

and this:

FUKUSHIMA - a Prescription For Disaster

and this:

FukuGate: We've been conned

and, of course, this to bring one up to date:

Japan declares 'nuclear emergency' after quake

Peace Love Light
tfw
[color=magenta]Liberty & Equality or Revolution

What disturbs me is how little is being reported on the aftermath of this storm that they are saying was one of the most devistating in US history. Remember the law that was made during the oil spill in the gulf, media is not allowed to report anything that could cause harm in any way including civil unrest. There should be more news, more pictures, more everything. We have only a handful of pictures and a few reports of no electricity. Considering what we saw after Katrina, with the FEMA camps, thousands of pictures, reports from people all over the place, reporters floating through the streets, walking through the devistation.... we have none of that. SO, the only thing I know for sure, is that something happened and I will never be allowed to hear about it. That fact sucks.