Hurricane Sandy, the 1,000 mile diameter storm brought rain, wind, water and power failures to 10.4 million from North Carolina up to Maine, and west to Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan in the USA and another 145,000 people in Canada, over 1.5 million people. As NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, here, “We have old infrastructure and new weather patterns… climate change is a reality, extreme weather is a reality, it is a reality that we are vulnerable.”
We need to build infrastructure that is more resistant to extreme storms, and resilient in the face of these kinds of storms.
Map showing people without power from Hurricane Sandy
Three nuclear plants were shut down, and three others were brought to lower capacity due to concerns about flooding. Salem 1 in New Jersey, Indian Point 3 in New York and Nine Mile Point 1 in New York shut down. Millstone 3 in Connecticut, Yankee, in Vermont, and Limerick in Pennsylvania were brought to reduced power.
In addition, because nuclear plants are refueled in spring and fall, several plants were shut down for refueling. The United States nuclear generating system is currently operating at 30% below capacity, see Table 2, below. However, it must be noted that even when shut-down, nuclear power plants need power for the cooling systems.
Oyster Creek, in the path of the hurricane, inland of some of the hardest hit areas of the Jersey Shore, had been shut down for refueling on 10/22. It’s cooling systems were switched to backup diesel generators due to high water levels in its water-intake structures. Exelon, according to the Wall Street Journal, here, reported that water levels didn’t rise enough to “impact operation of plant equipment.” NJ.com, here, cited an AP report that water rose 6 feet at Oyster Creek.
Wave driven turbines and geothermal systems can be engineered to be resistant to storms. Solar energy systems obviously won’t work during storms – or at night. However, just as they turn themselves on with the sunrise after an ordinary night, solar energy systems turn themselves on with the sunrise after a storm. Similarly, wind turbines need to be turned in to face the wind to avoid damage during storms and turned on after the storm. Nuclear plants, too, are shut down in hurricanes and floods and turned back on when the floods subside. However, turning on a nuclear plant takes time. Coal plants create tremendous amounts of coal ash, a toxic mess of heavy metals from Arsenic to Zinc, including Mercury, Uranium, Thorium, etc. Under normal conditions this is stored in retention ponds. However in flood conditions all bets are off.
One of the reasons that so many people remain without power is that we have relatively small numbers of very large power plants. To paraphrase NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo, “We have old infrastructure and new weather patterns. We need to build infrastructure that is more resistant to extreme storms, and resilient in the face of these kinds storm.” This means less coal and less nuclear, more solar, wind, geothermal, wave power systems, and more efficient use of energy infrastructure.
Satellite image of the storm.
| Hurricane Sandy Power Outage | |
| State | Without Power |
| ME | 90,727 |
| VT | 17,959 |
| NH | 141,992 |
| MA | 298,072 |
| NY | 1,967,874 |
| RI | 116,308 |
| CT | 626,440 |
| NJ | 2,498,447 |
| PA | 1,267,512 |
| DE | 45,137 |
| MD & DC | 314,603 |
| OH | 2,542,207 |
| WV | 212,183 |
| VA | 182,811 |
| NC | 4,005 |
| IN | 7,527 |
| MI | 68,619 |
| USA | 10,402,423 |
| Canada | 145,000 |
| 10,547,423 | |
| Source: Huffington Post Graphic | |
| Table 1 | |
Scott DiSavino, reporting for Reuters, wrote, here, US nuclear power outages post-Sandy are second highest in decade.
The following reactors are out of service, according to the NRC. The list is not comprehensive. Outage duration and restart dates are tentative and subject to change. Total capacity EL-USTOTCAP-MW ......... 101,167 MW Total out today EL-USOUTAGE-MW ........ 30,731 MW (30 percent) Total out year-ago .................... 18,459 MW (18 percent) 5-Year average out .................... 22,640 MW (22 percent) Percent change from year-ago .......... 66 percent Percent change from 5-yr avg .......... 36 percent CURRENT OUTAGES: UNIT OPERATOR MW FUEL SITE SHUT RESTART NORTHEAST (NPCC) Nine Mile 1 Cnstlltn 630 Nuke NY Oct 29 Nov 3 Indian Point 3 Entergy 1,040 Nuke NY Oct 29 Nov 3 Millstone 2 Dominion 869 Nuke CT Oct 8 Nov 7 Ginna Cnstlltn 581 Nuke NY Oct 20 Nov 20 ----------------------------------------------------------------- PJM Beaver Valley 2 FrstEnrgy 885 Nuke PA Sep 24 Nov 1 Salem 1 PSEG 1,174 Nuke NJ Oct 29 Nov 3 Braidwood 2 Exelon 1,152 Nuke IL Oct 15 Nov 14 Salem 2 PSEG 1,158 Nuke NJ Oct 14 Nov 14 Oyster Creek Exelon 615 Nuke NJ Oct 22 Nov 22 Susquehanna 1 PPL 1,260 Nuke PA Oct 20 Unknown ---------------------------------------------------------------- MIDWEST Prairie Isl Xcel 521 Nuke MN Oct 23 Nov 22 Duane Arnold NextEra 601 Nuke IA Oct 8 Dec 1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- SOUTHEAST (SERC) McGuire 2 Duke 1,100 Nuke NC Sep 15 Nov 1 St Lucie 2 NextEra 839 Nuke FL Aug 5 Nov 6 Summer Scana 966 Nuke SC Oct 15 Nov 17 Browns Ferry 1 TVA 1,101 Nuke AL Oct 22 Nov 22 Oconee 1 Duke 846 Nuke SC Oct 28 Nov 28 Sequoyah 2 TVA 1,126 Nuke TN Oct 15 Jan 15 +Crystal Riv 3 Progress 838 Nuke FL Sep '09 2014 ----------------------------------------------------------------- SPP Cooper NPPD 767 Nuke NE Oct 13 Nov 13 Waterford 3 Entergy 1,168 Nuke LA Oct 17 Dec 17 +Fort Calhoun OPPD 482 Nuke NE Apr '11 2013 ------------------------------------------------------------------ ERCOT Comanche Peak 2 Luminant 1,197 Nuke TX Oct 8 Nov 7 ------------------------------------------------------------------ WEST (WECC) Palo Verde 3 APS 1,314 Nuke AZ Oct 25 Nov 1 Palo Verde 2 APS 1,314 Nuke AZ Oct 8 Nov 5 +San Onofre 2 SCE 1,070 Nuke CA Jan 10 Unknown +San Onofre 3 SCE 1,080 Nuke CA Jan 31 Unknown ------------------------------------------------------------------ FUTURE OUTAGES: UNIT OPERATOR MW FUEL SITE SHUT RESTART NORTHEAST (NPCC) Indian Point 3 Entergy 1,040 Nuke NY Mar 8 Apr 8 Vermont Yankee Entergy 620 Nuke VT Mar 9 Apr 9 Nine Mile Pt 1 Cnstlltn 630 Nuke NY Apr 1 May 1 Millstone 3 Dominion 1,233 Nuke CT Apr 14 May 14 Pilgrim Entergy 685 Nuke MA Apr 17 Jun 17 ------------------------------------------------------------------ PJM Dresden 3 Exelon 867 Nuke IL Nov 12 Dec 12 LaSalle 2 Exelon 1,120 Nuke IL Feb 11 Mar 11 Calvert Clfs 2 Cnstlltn 850 Nuke MD Feb 17 Mar 24 Quad Cities 1 Exelon 882 Nuke IL Mar 11 Apr 11 Cook 1 AEP 1,009 Nuke MI Mar 13 Apr 13 Perry FrstEnrgy 1,240 Nuke OH Mar 18 Apr 18 Limerick 2 Exelon 1,134 Nuke PA Mar 25 Apr 25 North Anna 2 Dominion 943 Nuke VA Apr 7 May 7 Byron 2 Exelon 1,136 Nuke IL Apr 8 May 8 Susquehanna 2 PPL 1,190 Nuke PA Apr 13 May 25 ------------------------------------------------------------------ MIDWEST Point Beach 2 NextEra 512 Nuke WI Nov 1 Dec 1 Monticello Xcel 554 Nuke MN Mar 2 May 11 Point Beach 1 NextEra 506 Nuke WI Mar 18 Apr 22 Callaway Ameren 1,190 Nuke MO Apr 6 May 6 ------------------------------------------------------------------ SOUTHEAST (SERC) Surry 2 Dominion 799 Nuke VA Nov 1 Nov 28 Turkey Point 4 NextEra 693 Nuke FL Nov 5 Mar 5 Catawba 1 Duke 1,129 Nuke SC Nov 19 Dec 19 Hatch 2 Southern 883 Nuke GA Feb 4 Mar 4 Brunswick 2 Duke 920 Nuke NC Mar 3 Apr 7 Vogtle 2 Southern 1,152 Nuke GA Mar 10 Apr 10 Browns Ferry 2 TVA 1,104 Nuke AL Mar 16 Apr 20 McGuire 1 Duke 1,100 Nuke NC Mar 16 Apr 16 Farley 2 Southern 860 Nuke AL Apr 14 May 19 ------------------------------------------------------------------ SPP Wolf Creek Wolf Creek 1,160 Nuke KS Feb 4 Mar 4 River Bend Entergy 974 Nuke LA Feb 12 Mar 12 Arkansas 1 Entergy 842 Nuke AR Mar 13 Apr 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------ ERCOT South Texas 1 STP 1,280 Nuke TX Nov 1 Nov 20 Comanche Peak 1 Luminant 1,209 Nuke TX Apr 1 May 1 South Texas 2 STP 1,280 Nuke TX Apr 27 May 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------ WEST (WECC) Diablo Canyon 2 PG&E 1,118 Nuke CA Feb 3 Mar 3 Palo Verde 1 APS 1,311 Nuke AZ Mar 30 Apr 30 Columbia Energy NW 1,097 Nuke WA May 9 Jun 20 * New outage on the list, or new information on outage listed + Unexpected or longer than expected outages, according to Reuters data Table 2.