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[WARNING] - Louisiana Nuclear Plant (Waterford 3) in Danger Zone of Surge, Wind, Floods from Ida

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We will see how reliable these (old) diesel generators are.:oops:

Damage has been reported at the Waterford nuclear power plant in Louisiana. Offsite power was also lost. This is a critical failure for a plant, leaving it dependent on diesel generators to keep reactor systems cooled. Power could be out as long as 3 weeks in the region. The plant was shut down ahead of the incoming storm. We are now seeing reports of some of the worst of the storm hitting the area near Waterford. Storm surge, flash flooding and sustained winds over 100 mph are hitting the area tonight as the storm dropped to a category 2 hurricane.

 
We will see how reliable these (old) diesel generators are.:oops:

Damage has been reported at the Waterford nuclear power plant in Louisiana. Offsite power was also lost. This is a critical failure for a plant, leaving it dependent on diesel generators to keep reactor systems cooled. Power could be out as long as 3 weeks in the region. The plant was shut down ahead of the incoming storm. We are now seeing reports of some of the worst of the storm hitting the area near Waterford. Storm surge, flash flooding and sustained winds over 100 mph are hitting the area tonight as the storm dropped to a category 2 hurricane.

I plan on calling the nuclear facility today and asking if they have offsite power or if it is still knocked out.. It is very unclear if it is still and hardly any media is covering this. If they don't booking a hotel up north until off-site power restored. Was going to this morning but something came up.
 
They took the plant offline, but idk how that affects the need for cooling. Those rods are still hot afaik but should be shielded if I remember how this stuff works.
 
They took the plant offline, but idk how that affects the need for cooling. Those rods are still hot afaik but should be shielded if I remember how this stuff works.
The nuclear fuel is protected against damage caused by overheating as long as it remains covered with water.
If the reactor cooling system fails after the reactor was shut down with the water level inside the reactor vessel is at its normal level,
it would take approximately 11 hours for boil-off to reduce the water level down to the top of the reactor core.
Without cooling, the boil-off would continue to drop the water level below the top of the nuclear fuel in the reactor core. As nuclear fuel was uncovered by water, it would begin heating up. As the fuel temperature increased to 1,800ยฐF, a chemical reaction between the metal cladding of the fuel rods and the steam flowing past would generate large quantities of hydrogen. If the heat-up continued past 2,200ยฐF, the exposed fuel would begin to melt.
 

Waterford Nuclear Plant Still Without Offsite Power, May Be For Days or Weeks​

Entergy reported Waterford was without any offsite power yesterday as hurricane Ida hit the region. River Bend nuclear plant, also owned by Entergy, north of Baton Rouge had reduced to 35% power. This reduction was cited as being due to the drop in grid demand in the region.

The NRC issued a violation for this failure. Loss of both emergency generators would put the plant into a station blackout, the same condition that contributed to the meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi. Waterford should have FLEX portable generators and pumps but there have been questions about the ability of that equipment to sufficiently cool a reactor in a disaster scenario.

As crews are able to get out and access damage in the region around the plant site we will be looking for information regarding damage, access to Waterford and localized flooding.
Until grid power is restored, this will be a situation to watch.

 
New & Changing Events. Further commentary here:
 
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