An odd question, I know, but I was wondering. What do coastal states prone to hurricanes that have nuclear reactors do when a hurricane looks like it may damage the reactor? I notice there are several reactors in Florida, Georgia, S. Carolina, Louisiana and Texas, some of which are fairly close to the ocean. I imagine there always a possibility for flooding, wind damage, or the reactor becoming isolated due to flooding and storm damage. Do they power them down, before a hurricane strike or do they just batten down the hatches?
They batten down the hatches. In some instances--and there is a very liberal, safety-conscious attitude about it--they'll take them offline if the winds reach XXmph or there is enough vibration to trigger an emergency event, and they shut them down.
Hell, CCNPP automatically shut down one of its reactors in the middle of Hurricane Irene when a piece of siding hit one of the plant's transformers.
Nukes are very twitchy like that.
If the Japs can have 'em in Tsunami Earthquake land, we can afford to have a few in Hurricaneland.
Okay, thanks. Was just curious.
They're perfectly safe. Unlike the perfectly legal non-hurricane-proof dwellings in hurricane areas that regularly get people killed.