Florida's nuclear power plants

Florida’s nucear power plants – are they prepared?

NUCLEAR WARNING: Fears for Florida power plants in the PATH of Hurricane Matthew

HURRICANE Matthew could potentially cause nuclear devastation if the two power plants along Florida’s eastern coast are hit.

The Express

6 October, 2017

The plants could be devastated by the oncoming storm, which is causing millions to flee the area.

St Lucie one is a twin nuclear power station located on Hutchinson Island in St Lucie County and was commissioned in 1976.

The other, Turkey Point, is situated two-miles east of Homestead, next to Biscayne National Park, around 25 miles south of Miami.

According to predictions of the course of the hurricane, Matthew is expected to come closest to the St Lucie facility early on Friday morning, with the storm surge reaching a height of five feet and winds around 130mph.

A US Department of Energy review, undertake after Hurricanes Irene and Sandy, indicated a number of ways of protecting the reactors against extreme weather conditions.

According to the department: “Some reactors were shut as a precaution to protect equipment from the storm; others were forced to shut down or reduce power output due to damage to plant facilities or transmission infrastructure serving the plant; and still others were forced to reduce power output due to reduced power demand caused by widespread utility customer outages.”

Concerns about the ability of Turkey Point to withstand extreme weather conditions have been raised in the past.

The Miami News Times published an article after the Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown that stated: “Turkey Point is susceptible to a meltdown caused by a natural disaster.

“A hurricane-spurred tidal surge from Turkey Point’s neighbouring Biscayne Bay could create catastrophic conditions identical to those in Japan. With power down, the plant would be forced to rely on emergency diesel generators to pump water to cool the reactors….those generators would ‘certainly’ become inundated with water from the tidal surge, causing them to drown and fail.”

The National Hurricane Center said: “Matthew is likely to produce devastating impacts from storm surge, extreme winds, and heavy rains in the northwestern Bahamas today, and along extensive portions of the east coast of Florida tonight.

“Evacuations are not just a coastal event. Strong winds will occur inland from the coast, and residents of mobile homes under evacuation orders are urged to heed those orders.

“Hurricane winds increase rapidly with heigh, and residents of high-rise buildings are at particular risk of strong winds.”

Chuck Watson, a disaster modeler with Enki Research in Savannah, Georgia estimated the cost of Hurricane Matthew could hit $15 billion (£11.9bn) with Florida bearing the brunt of the damage.