The Browns Ferry nuclear facility in northern Alabama remained safely shut down after it lost power following devastating storms in the area, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Valley Authority said Thursday.
The nuclear plant, which provides 10% of the power generated by the TVA, shut down at 4:36 p.m. Central Daylight Time on Wednesday, after the storms damaged transmission lines going into the plant, said TVA spokeswoman Barbara Martocci.
"We are in a safe shutdown mode," Ms. Martocci said. "We're assessing the damage outside of the plant on the transmission system to determine what we need to fix."
Ms. Martocci said the TVA declared at "unusual event," the lowest of four emergency classification levels established by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commision, at 5:01 p.m. Wednesday. The NRC said it was monitoring the situation at the plant.
Ms. Martocci said the TVA didn't know how long it would take to restore full power to the Browns Ferry plant. She said the plant needs "redundant" sources of power before they can turn it back on.
On Wednesday, powerful storms and tornadoes devastated large swaths of the Southeastern U.S., killing more than 200 people and flattening hundreds of homes. The tragedy comes amid a heightened sensitivity to the vulnerability of nuclear plants to natural disasters, in the wake of Japans' nuclear crisis. There, the safety devices and backup generators at several nuclear units were unable to withstand the effects of an earthquake and an ensuing tsunami, unleashing dangerous radiation.
At Browns Ferry, back-up diesel generators and batteries helped the facility shut down properly. "Everything worked as was designed," Ms. Martocci said.
External power was partially restored at the plant shortly after the shut-down, but damage assessment is continuing; about 90 TVA transmission lines were brought down by the storms, of which 13 have been repaired. "We'll figure out where we need to supply load the quickest, who has damage and who needs help," Ms. Martocci said.
The NRC said that one of the plant's diesel generators was out of service for maintenance, but the other seven functioned well. "Safety systems have operated as needed," the NRC said in a press release. An NRC inspector was in the plant's control room when power was lost and could observe the shut down.
The Browns Ferry facility was the TVA's first nuclear plant. It is located near Athens, Ala., and was once the world's largest nuclear plant, according to the company's website.
The TVA, a U.S. government-owned electricity provider, has 16,000 miles of transmission line across 7 southeastern states. It serves 9 million people.
The nuclear plant, which provides 10% of the power generated by the TVA, shut down at 4:36 p.m. Central Daylight Time on Wednesday, after the storms damaged transmission lines going into the plant, said TVA spokeswoman Barbara Martocci.
"We are in a safe shutdown mode," Ms. Martocci said. "We're assessing the damage outside of the plant on the transmission system to determine what we need to fix."
Ms. Martocci said the TVA declared at "unusual event," the lowest of four emergency classification levels established by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commision, at 5:01 p.m. Wednesday. The NRC said it was monitoring the situation at the plant.
Ms. Martocci said the TVA didn't know how long it would take to restore full power to the Browns Ferry plant. She said the plant needs "redundant" sources of power before they can turn it back on.
On Wednesday, powerful storms and tornadoes devastated large swaths of the Southeastern U.S., killing more than 200 people and flattening hundreds of homes. The tragedy comes amid a heightened sensitivity to the vulnerability of nuclear plants to natural disasters, in the wake of Japans' nuclear crisis. There, the safety devices and backup generators at several nuclear units were unable to withstand the effects of an earthquake and an ensuing tsunami, unleashing dangerous radiation.
At Browns Ferry, back-up diesel generators and batteries helped the facility shut down properly. "Everything worked as was designed," Ms. Martocci said.
External power was partially restored at the plant shortly after the shut-down, but damage assessment is continuing; about 90 TVA transmission lines were brought down by the storms, of which 13 have been repaired. "We'll figure out where we need to supply load the quickest, who has damage and who needs help," Ms. Martocci said.
The Browns Ferry facility was the TVA's first nuclear plant. It is located near Athens, Ala., and was once the world's largest nuclear plant, according to the company's website.
The TVA, a U.S. government-owned electricity provider, has 16,000 miles of transmission line across 7 southeastern states. It serves 9 million people.
