Texas Nuclear Plant In the Path

[arcticfire]

According to a CNN article:

Officials at the South Texas Project nuclear plant in Bay City, Texas, are preparing to shut the facility down before Rita arrives, a spokesman said.

The plant, which powers 1 million customers, is built on elevated ground 12 miles inland from the Texas coast to withstand storm surges from Category 5 hurricanes. In addition, the two reactor containment buildings are strong enough to withstand a Category 5 storm or a direct impact of a Boeing 767

That's what they said about the Levy's in New Orleans

Thoughts and comments (worries) welcome.

Um actually everything I ever read or heard about NOLA levee's before Katrina was that they could not withstand anything of Cat3 or better. I don't recall anyone ever being stupid enough to claim NOLA could handle a cat5.

[Big-Iguana]

Question what's a happens if a nuclear reactor is submerged for a period of time?

[jabber]

She is not going to be a cat 5 by and if it gets close. Waters and dry air will not support that

[mf_dolphin]

By the way where is the storm2k server located?

Our server is located in Houston, TX

It is in a commercial data center with numerous backup systems and on-site generators. It also is served by multiple fiber optic connection so hopefully we'll stay running. If not, we'll see everyone when we come back up

[cancunkid]

She is not going to be a cat 5 by and if it gets close. Waters and dry air will not support that

That may be true this time but you do have to wonder what would happen if a cat 5 with surge and lots of rain did hit. Especially if they have had structural problems in the past!

[carve]

All i can say is..all this was made by humans..therfore nothing is indestructable.mistakes are a part of us as humans..i hope not in this case..

[feederband]

She is not going to be a cat 5 by and if it gets close. Waters and dry air will not support that

Great I was starting to get worried....

[huricanwatcher]

She is not going to be a cat 5 by and if it gets close. Waters and dry air will not support that

Great I was starting to get worried....

im sorry but look at her.. and shes not even half way across the gulf yet.... shes gonna get much stronger before she calms down... so how big will she be when she hits TX???

[chrisnnavarre]

I'd be more worried about the numerous chemical plants that don't have half the protection of a nuclear power facility.

A direct hit on Houston could be an environmental disaster.

[chrisnnavarre]

"Generation
In 1999, Texas industries and businesses pro-duced about 15 million tons of hazardous waste, excluding hazardous wastewaters--more than one-third of all such waste in the United States. The multitude of chemical manufacturers, petroleum refineries, and other industries in the region produces a large portion of this toxic refuse. Harris, Brazoria, and Galveston counties are the top three hazardous waste producers in Texas, together creating almost two thirds of the state's total.

Disposal
More than 99 percent of Texas hazardous waste is managed on site or treated and discharged into a wastewater treatment facility. In 1994, there were twenty approved or active hazardous waste incinerators and eight deep injection wells in the Houston area. Most hazardous wastes generated in the region are disposed of by deep well injection.

Contaminated Sites
The region has a relatively high concentration of sites contaminated by hazardous materials. The county is among the top ten counties in the United States with the most Superfund sites.

There are currently seventeen federal or state Superfund sites in Harris County that are on the EPA's National Priorities List. Scores of other contaminated sites, such as brownfields, exist as well, but are not officially tracked. The year 2003 saw the beginning of remediation on the MDI Superfund site, located in Houston's Fifth Ward, across the street from Brooks Elementary School. The cleanup project was unique in that community involvement was the driving force. Mothers for Clean Air and an outreach effort of the University of Texas Medical Branch used art to involve neighborhood parents and children. The city applied again this year for federal fund-ing to clean up area brownfields.

Inequity
Like many environmental problems, haz-ardous waste disposal most affects low-income and minority neighborhoods. Texas is one of five states having the most commercial waste facilities in communities above the national average in percentage of people of color. Studies also show a strong negative correlation between proximity of hazardous waste facilities or contaminated sites and property values. Often, contaminated sites are cleaned up only to be turned back over to commercial interests, leading to the gentrification of neighborhoods."

http://www.cechouston.org/

[Lori]

[quote="chrisnnavarre"]I'd be more worried about the numerous chemical plants that don't have half the protection of a nuclear power facility.

A direct hit on Houston could be an environmental disaster.[/quote

There are so many toxic and hazardous chemical plants that it would take a long time just to inspect them all, much less clean up any spills.

[themusk]

Thoughts and comments (worries) welcome.

Once upon an ancient time ago I toyed with the idea of going into health physics (read: student job and a class or two). One of the reasons I did not was that in the course of this I learned that my (then) local highly radioactive waste isotopes (things like medical cobalt -- yes, that long ago) were being being stored in a Quonset hut next to a creek in the 100 year flood plain. Not a comforting thought, and not a place I felt comfortable working.

So I have anything but blind faith in nuclear storage. That said, the containment structures of nuclear reactors are places I do, barring evidence to the contrary, put my trust in. Those are tough structures.

If I was going to worry about anything here, it might be the aboveground cask storage (assuming there is aboveground high level waste storage at the reactor -- I don't know). And while I can, cranking up my paranoia level high enough, imagine some unpredicted leakage, I have a hard time constructing a scenario that would result in complete cask failure.

So could something bad happen (i.e. limited dispersal of small amounts of high level and/or transuranic waste?)? Yes. Could something very bad happen? (i.e. widespread contamination by high-level and/or transuranic waste?). IMO, very very unlikely.

[gatorcane]

Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant right on Biscayne Bay east of Homestead, Florida got a direct hit from Hurricane Andrew. Wind gusts were estimated to be over 200mph at that location and the containment areas were not breached.

I do remember one big smoke stack had a big crack in it and they had to demolish it. But it was used to burn fossil fuels, not for nuclear.

The nuclear plants are built to withstand F5 tornados or up to 300mph winds I believe.

A nuclear power plant on a key in S. Florida would have more stringent building codes I would surmise compared to one 12 miles inland in Texas. I sure hope this plant was tested adequately because this storm may make landfall stronger than Andrew

[NC George]

According to a CNN article:

Officials at the South Texas Project nuclear plant in Bay City, Texas, are preparing to shut the facility down before Rita arrives, a spokesman said.

The plant, which powers 1 million customers, is built on elevated ground 12 miles inland from the Texas coast to withstand storm surges from Category 5 hurricanes. In addition, the two reactor containment buildings are strong enough to withstand a Category 5 storm or a direct impact of a Boeing 767

That's what they said about the Levy's in New Orleans

Thoughts and comments (worries) welcome.

Well, that's not what what said about the levy in NO, they said it was only good for a Cat 3. a Cat 4 hit, and guess what, what they said would happen did.

[TexasStooge]

Cat 5 Hurricane+Nuclear Reactor=

That's what I'm saying.

[mimi77]

Hello!
This is my first post here. I've been reading for a long time, but now I feel it is my turn to post and put everyone at ease about the Nuclear Power plant shutting down.

I work at the Nuclear Power Plant that was in Katrina's path. We shut down for Katrina. Not only do I work there (I'm a chemist there), but I stayed there as part of the hurricane team through the duration of Katrina.

The reactor in Rita's path will be shutdown for precautionary measures. The containment building is built to withstand tornados, CAT 5 hurricanes AND a boeing 747 flying right into it. The people there at that plant will actually be the SAFEST of anyone in that area. The media places a lot of fear in people about nuclear reactors, but in actuality, it is the safest place to work. We have so many safety precautions etc... in place for every little thing that could possibly happen. Nuclear workers are VERY well trained. They put a LOT of time into our training and I guarantee the nuclear reactor is the LAST thing I would worry about in Rita's path. They will shutdown for precautionary measures and then the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will have to give them permission to start up when and ONLY when it is safe to do so. So please, don't let the media stir up fear in you...I would not work there if it were not safe....I especially would not have stayed there for Hurricane Katrina. When I walked out of the area we were locked down in after the storm passed over, I didn't even see any destruction within eye's view. Just a few trees down. Those plants are built WELL and sturdy....everything we do is for the public's safety!

[mmgray]

Its amazing what people (mainly the media) can come with to get everyone worried. On a list of 1000 things to be worried about when it comes to Rita breaching the containment of a Nuclear Power plant would be about #1001.

[mmgray]

Its amazing what people (mainly the media) can come with to get everyone worried. On a list of 1000 things to be worried about when it comes to Rita breaching the containment of a Nuclear Power plant would be about #1001.

[mmgray]

Sorry about the double post. I haven't seen the site this busy all year.

[marcd]

I tuned into this forum believing that it may have some scientific meteorological content. You people are worried about a nuclear reactor in the path of this intense storm as if it was a catastrophic occurence. You have MUCH bigger problems in regard to environmental or public safety concerns. Please concentrate on what you should already know or at least understand. There are more immediate issues to be addressed.