Entergy Copes With Katrina Damage

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Entergy has posted a special Web site to track its response to catastrophic storm damage in Louisiana and Mississippi. Here's an update from 11:30 a.m.:

This morning, Entergy has begun assessing damage caused by the worst storm in Entergy's history. More than 1 million Entergy customers remain without power in Louisiana and Mississippi. Hurricane Katrina caused extensive damage. Due to the scope and amount of damage to its electrical system, Entergy expects a long and difficult restoration.

The number of reported customer outages peaked in Mississippi and Louisiana at nearly 1.1 million. Additional outages are possible due to the wet soil and occasional wind gusts.

The outage total has more than quadrupled the previous Entergy single event record of 270,000, set only last month during Tropical Storm Cindy. The record prior to that was 260,000 following Hurricane Georges in 1998.

Louisiana had a peak of 790,000 customers without power. In Mississippi, outage peaked at over 300,000.

Entergy crews were able to get some customers back online last night in areas that did not suffer heavy damage from Katrina. Company officials do not expect major restoration efforts to begin until after crews can assess the extent of the damage.

Entergy sincerely appreciates its customers' patience and understanding during this emergency time.

Hurricane Katrina leaves behind the largest number of power disruptions for a single event in the company's history.

More than a million Entergy customers are without power. The company expects a long and difficult restoration in the aftermath of the extensive damage caused by Katrina.

Again, we're saying thank you ahead of time to Entergy employees who are going to be in the field indefinitely making repairs and getting the grid back online. Meanwhile, here's the lastest from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the status of the region's three nuclear power plants:

As a precautionary measure, the Waterford 3 nuclear plant near Taft, La., shut down when a hurricane warning was issued for St. Charles Parish on Saturday. It remains in an Unusual Event, the lowest of four emergency action levels. Electrical power for key safety systems on site is being supplied by the plant's standby diesel generators, following a loss of off-site power caused by instability in the regional electrical grid.

NRC staff have independently verified that key plant systems and structures, are undamaged and able to support current plant operations. At the direction of the NRC, the nation’s nuclear plants, which are among the most robust structures in the critical infrastructure, have increased security preparedness and capabilities available during emergencies.

A member of the NRC staff plans to accompany officials from the State of Louisiana and the Federal Emergency Management Agency during a survey of the site within the next 48 hours. NRC approval is needed before the plant can be restarted. This survey will include off-site evacuation routes and emergency sirens.

The Grand Gulf nuclear plant near Port Gibson, Miss., and River Bend Nuclear Station near Baton Rouge, La., were both operating at reduced power this morning. The plants operated through the storm, but voluntarily reduced power generation to assist in restoring stability to the electrical grid when a drop in energy consumption caused grid voltage to fluctuate.

Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

Below is from our rapid response team . Yesterday, regional anti-nuclear organizations asked federal nuclear energy regulators to launch an investigation into what it claims are “newly identified flaws” in Westinghouse’s advanced reactor design, the AP1000. During a teleconference releasing a report on the subject, participants urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend license reviews of proposed AP1000 reactors. In its news release, even the groups making these allegations provide conflicting information on its findings. In one instance, the groups cite “dozens of corrosion holes” at reactor vessels and in another says that eight holes have been documented. In all cases, there is another containment mechanism that would provide a barrier to radiation release. Below, we examine why these claims are unwarranted and why the AP1000 design certification process should continue as designated by the NRC. Myth: In the AP1000 reactor design, the gap between the shield bu...

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Not too long ago, we reviewed a report that looked at nuclear energy (and other energy sources) as biodiversity agents. This had to do, in part, with the amount of land a facility needs to function. Nuclear energy and fossil fuel plants use relatively little, wind farms and solar arrays quite a lot of land . Based on an objective and transparent analysis of our sustainable energy choices, we have come to the evidence-based conclusion that nuclear energy is a good option for biodiversity conservation (and society in general) and that other alternatives to fossil fuels should be subjected to the same cost–benefit analyses (in terms of biodiversity and climate outcomes, as well as sociopolitical imperatives) before accepting or dismissing them. Writer Barry Brook, who collected 75 scientists to endorse his paper, is interested in land use as it impacts flora and fauna. Biodiversity concerns do not get as much play as they might – and, when they do, it annoys many when land is withdraw...

NEI Nuclear Notes

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