Duke Energy has terminated the low-level emergency notice at its Brunswick nuclear power plant in North Carolina, but on Wednesday declined to say when the site’s two reactors would resume operations.
The utility took the facility, located about 4 miles inland from the Atlantic Coast, offline as Hurricane Florence approached the state on Friday. Brunswick sustained no flooding or storm damage, but Duke on Saturday issued a notice of unusual event as rising waters blocked access to the site. That notice, the lowest emergency classification at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was lifted around 2 p.m. Tuesday.
“We exited the unusual event when we were able to verify that there was more reliable access to the plant via personal vehicle,” Duke spokeswoman Karen Williams said by email Wednesday.
Roughly 300 Brunswick employees and two NRC inspectors had been on-site for several days. Two fresh NRC inspectors replaced their colleagues on Tuesday, agency spokesman Roger Hannah said.
The Raleigh News & Observer reported Wednesday that Duke was using a boat to remove employees from the 1,200-acre Brunswick property. “As we transition from storm operations back to normal conditions, the number of personnel on-site will continue to be fluid,” Williams stated. “Area roads are improving, but we continue to monitor for flooding as rivers in the area reach their crest.”
The NRC referred questions about the plant’s schedule for resuming operations to Duke. Williams said the company does not provide that information “for competitive market reasons.”
Close to 40 deaths have been attributed to Florence since it made landfall last Friday.
