No Sharks at a Nuclear Plant

It’s just a little thing, but after hoping that one of the sharks in Sharknado last night would sail toward a nuclear plant, I recalled that there was an equally fine picture about a nuclear energy plant in the path of a tornado and the “disaster” that would occur if the two crossed paths.

So I poked around on IMDB and found it: Atomic Twister (2002), starring Sharon Lawrence and Mark-Paul Gosselaar (between gigs on Saved by the Bell and NYPD Blue, I guess).

Now, in truth, nuclear facilities have been smacked by tornados – Davis-Besse in 1998, Grand Gulf in 1978 – and others by hurricanes – and nothing outlandish occurred. Plants powered down due to switch yard or power line damage or even because it seemed prudent with a storm on the way (this happened during Hurricane Isaac). One reactor at Indian Point powered down for super storm Sandy. Weather can provide considerable jitters, no question, but large industrial structures in general are meant to withstand it – and they have a good record doing so.

Now, all that said, let’s zero in on the IMDB Goofs page for Atomic Twister:

Too many inaccuracies in the way a nuclear plant and nuclear reactor work to list.

And the rating? 3.9 out of 10. Oof – Sharknado got a 4. Well, even into Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s career may an ill wind blow.

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