US NRC expects no nuke plant closures under Rita's current path

Washington (Platts)--23Sep2005

None of the three nuclear power plants closest to the projected path of
Hurricane Rita will be required to shut down if the hurricane stays on its
current course, a US Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman said Friday. 
     The three nuclear stations are the two-unit South Texas Project near Bay
City, Texas, with a total capacity of 2,500 MW, the 936-MW River Bend reactor
25 miles outside of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the 1,104-MW Waterford 3
reactor 20 miles west of New Orleans. 
     NRC Region IV spokesman Victor Dricks said that if Rita follows its
currently projected path, the closest it will come to the South Texas Project
is 121 miles at 7 am Saturday. The path would take the storm within 160 miles
of River Bend at 5 am Saturday and within 167 miles of Waterford at 4 pm
Friday. 
     NRC requires nuclear plants to begin shutting down seven hours before
they expect hurricane force winds of 75 miles per hour or greater. Dricks said
given the current path of Rita, the three plants are outside of projected
hurricane force winds but would experience tropical storm winds of 39 miles
per hour or greater.
                                      ---Brian Jordan, brian_jordan@platts.com

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