nuclear-news

Although two new reactors at Turkey Point are being built at a higher elevation, Florida Power & Light has requested to keep the two current nukes running until 2035. Given that Hurricane Andrew almost inundated them in 1992, what will happen as oceans continue to rise?

“The standards will be 85 years old by then, and that’s a problem,” says Arnie Gundersen, a Vermont-based nuclear engineer and consultant. “If tidal waves knock out the water pumps” — as they did at the Fukushima reactor in Japan earlier this year — “you can have a meltdown.”…..

Global warming could put Turkey Point nuclear reactors under water, Miami New Times By Michael E. Miller , Sep 8 2011 Warning: Global warming is a fact, and the results are already visible. Hurricanes are getting stronger; droughts and floods are more frequent. In South Florida, waters rose roughly six inches between 1930 and 1981. That might not sound like much, but it’s just the tip of a rapidly melting iceberg. “We are the most vulnerable metropolitan area in the world when it comes to sea-level rise,” University of Miami professor Harold Wanless says. And, the avuncular geologist adds, that’s nothing.

Although two new reactors at Turkey Point are being built at a higher elevation, Florida Power & Light has requested to keep the two current nukes running until 2035. Given that Hurricane Andrew almost inundated them in 1992, what will happen as oceans continue to rise?

“The standards will be 85 years old by then, and that’s a problem,” says Arnie Gundersen, a Vermont-based nuclear engineer and consultant. “If tidal waves knock out the water pumps” — as they did at the Fukushima reactor in Japan earlier this year — “you can have a meltdown.”…..

Although two new reactors at Turkey Point are being built at a higher elevation, Florida Power & Light has requested to keep the two current nukes running until 2035. Given that Hurricane Andrew almost inundated them in 1992, what will happen as oceans continue to rise?

“The standards will be 85 years old by then, and that’s a problem,” says Arnie Gundersen, a Vermont-based nuclear engineer and consultant. “If tidal waves knock out the water pumps” — as they did at the Fukushima reactor in Japan earlier this year — “you can have a meltdown.”