The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) said late last week that most nuclear plants remained online during Winter Storm Jonas last month.
NEI said only one reactor was forced offline by the storm. Calvert Cliffs Unit 1 in Maryland had to shut down after accumulated ice and winds caused a voltage-line disconnection. Exelon Corp., the plant’s operating company, said the facility’s second unit remained in service. NEI said this is similar to what happened during the polar vortex that took place in 2014.
“As demonstrated during the polar vortex two years ago and again last winter, Winter Storm Jonas provides another example of nuclear energy’s relative imperviousness to severe weather,” NEI Senior Vice President of Communications Scott Peterson said.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said 94 reactors were operating at 90 percent power or higher during the storm — 87 of them at full capacity.
States heavily impacted by the storm include North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
During the storm, Millstone Unit 3 in Connecticut was taken offline due to a reactor-coolant pump issue unrelated to the storm, a Dominion Power representative said.
