NEI Nuclear Notes

So how was your weekend? I had some flickering lights but they stayed on, and I woke up Sunday without all the clocks blinking 12. But that’s just a matter of geography. Irene was a very potent storm. The Associated Press reports that 3 million people are without electricity and that 35 people lost their lives. The first number will dwindle away, the second will stubbornly persist. Irene’s legacy. And the nuclear energy fleet? Let’s see: North Carolina: Brunswick 1 and 2 – temporarily reduced power output to 65 percent of electric generating capacity. Virginia: Surry 1 and 2 – continued operating at 100 percent power Maryland: Calvert Cliffs 1 – automatically and safely shut down, as designed, when a large piece of aluminum siding struck a transformer late Saturday; the power station immediately declared an unusual event, the lowest of four emergency classifications, and exited the unusual event Sunday morning; the reactor is still off-line. Calvert Cliffs 2 –...