Partial shutdown at Indian Point NPP due to cold weather

This story came to me via Mimi German.

What strikes me is - climate change meets the ageing nuclear infrastructure of the US - part of the Great Unravelling

Here are Mimi's comments

"The issue here is WATER. Drought. Floods. Ice. 

"California still has Diablo Canyon NPP up and running. It needs water. And there is an enormous drought in CA. 

"How long will the water last? 

"With freezing temperatures in the midwest and along the entire east coast, we will see many more issues w/ freezing pipes in npps causing shutdowns and at some point, meltdowns. 

"Indian Point had a very big problem with the freezing lines. 

"We saw floods in the MidWest not long ago causing a shutdown of another NPP. 

"To say that at Indian Point it was good news that they found the problem in time, is a wrong thought. It is a very bad thing that Indian Point is still online. Period.

“The good news is the company was able to identify this quickly, get one of those lines unfrozen, and restore the alarm capabilities,” says Sheehan."

You can catch Mimi in a radio interview from yesterday

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Cold Weather Leads To Indian Point 3 Alarm Failure

WAMC,

8 January, 2015

The extreme cold weather has had an impact on New York’s Indian Point nuclear power plant. Indicators for a refueling water tank were not working early Thursday, causing a temporary, partial shutdown.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan says operators at Indian Point Unit 3 discovered that the two sets of low-low water level indicators, or alarms, for the plant’s refueling water storage tank were not functioning. He says the cause of the lines freezing was a failed strip heater.

“The good news is the company was able to identify this quickly, get one of those lines unfrozen, and restore the alarm capabilities,” says Sheehan.

He says the Buchanan-based plant has within seven days to restore the other alarm or else the unit would have to be shut down. Sheehan points out the issue is a matter of safety, as water would be pumped from the storage tank into the reactor coolant system if there were an accident.


Just earlier this week, Pauline Schneider, taking over from Guy McPherson,  was talking to nuclear activist, Marilyn Elle, on the Indian Point nuclear power plent

And I found this, from 7 months ago, on You Tube, from Thom Hartmann.