Sunday, August 28, 2011

Maryland nuclear reactor knocked offline by hurricane debris

Baltimore Sun: A reactor at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant remained shut down this morning as officials assess the damage caused when a piece of debris tossed by heavy winds damaged a transformer. A spokesman said as of 8 a.m. this morning that “Unit 1 is safely off-line.”

A second reactor was working fine at 100 percent power, said Mark Sullivan, the spokesman for the Constellation Energy Nuclear Group. “All employees are said,” he added.

Sullivan said Saturday night that officials believe the damage was caused by a large piece of aluminum that was torn loose from a building. The “unusual event,” declared by for the plant's Unit 1 is the least serious of four emergency classifications by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The company has begun its response to what it describes as a low-level emergency, and says the plant remains stable. There is no threat to employees or neighbors, according to a statement released by communications director Mark Sullivan….

An aerial view of the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, shot by Jbs666 (I think), Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License

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