The Savannah River Site has delayed opening its gates to nonessential personnel at least another 12 hours as the Aiken, S.C., area where the site is located deals with impacts of Hurricane Irma.
The Department of Energy first reported on Saturday that it would close the site’s gates to nonessential workers on Monday, when Irma — now downgraded to a tropical storm — was expected to reach the region. The area around SRS on Monday endured hours of storming, which caused more than 20,000 power outages and winds upward of 50 mph.
On Monday, the site reported that nonessential workers should not report to work until noon Tuesday. “This will allow for the assessment and cleanup of any SRS roadways and facilities impacted by conditions associated with Hurricane Irma,” according to a site update, which said SRS employees would be notified at 8:30 a.m. today of any changes to the current plan.
In the meantime, employees are encouraged to call 803-725-SITE, visit srs.gov, and check SRS social media pages for updates.
Meanwhile, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday it was keeping watch on the storm as it passed through several states with nuclear power plants.
Reactor Unit 3 at Florida’s Turkey Point plant has remained offline since Saturday, while the plant shut down Unit 4 on Sunday evening to deal with a valve problem. “The shutdown was uncomplicated, the plant is in a safe condition, and winds and rain have diminished at the site such that the plant staff exited their declaration of an unusual event at 4 a.m.,” the NRC said.
Salt accumulation on insulators in the switchyard at the St. Lucie plant in Florida led operators to reduce power for one reactor, while the other unit was at full power.
The regulator was also monitoring possible impacts from Irma on the Hatch facility in Georgia and the Farley plant in Alabama. “Even though the staffs at both sites have completed storm preparations, it appears that projected winds will not be strong enough to affect plant operations at these two locations.”
