As Hurricane Ida rolls through Louisiana, one of two nuclear power plants in the storm’s path is offline while the other is operating at reduced capacity, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday.
Waterford Nuclear Generating Station, located about 25 miles from New Orleans, lost offsite electrical power Sunday evening, NRC said in a statement published Monday morning on Facebook. The plant “responded as designed, maintaining safe shutdown conditions with power from emergency diesel generators,” the agency said.
Waterford’s single reactor wasn’t running when it lost power — the plant “shut down protectively” on Saturday in anticipation of hurricane conditions, NRC said.
Like most nuclear power plants, Waterford stores its spent fuel inventory on site.
The commission also said Monday that River Bend Nuclear Generating Station has been operating at 35% power since Sunday evening due to “load demands.” The plant, located 30 miles north of Baton Rouge, La., is stable and hasn’t experienced any significant issues, NRC said.
Meanwhile, Mississippi’s Grand Gulf Nuclear Station is operating at full power, the commission’s statement said. That plant doesn’t expect any significant weather issues related to Ida, the statement said.
“No significant flooding has been reported at any of the sites,” NRC said.
A spokesperson for NRC Monday afternoon directed Weapons Complex Morning Briefing to the agency’s Facebook post when asked for comment via email, and said that further updates would be posted there as well.
Hurricane Ida made landfall on the Louisiana coast early Monday morning, bringing 45 mile-per-hour winds, according to the National Weather Service. The storm is expected to move northeast throughout the week, losing strength along the way.
