The unreliable nature of nuclear power

[kristopher]

Oooops! Another unexpected loss of a major source of power has to be dealt with.

When nuclear proponents talk of problems associated with the variability of renewables, they neglect to point out 3 things:
1) A distributed renewable grid is designed around the variability of renewables and can handle it just as our present grid can handle shutting down Seabrook.
2) There are both planned and unplanned outages. Renewables actually have FEWER unplanned outages than conventional generation.
3) Unplanned or unanticipated outages pose far greater challenges to system reliability than planned or anticipated outages.

Low water level halts Seabrook N-plant
By Taylor M. Miles
Globe Correspondent / October 7, 2011

The Seabrook Station nuclear power plant automatically shut down Wednesday due to a low level of water in the steam generator, say officials of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The Seabrook, N.H., plant shut down at 12:27 p.m. as it was designed to do, after sensing low water levels in the steam generator, NRC officials said. NRC spokeswoman Diane Screnci said the incident did not pose a threat to public health and safety, and there were no radioactive releases.

It was unclear last night whether the plant was back up and running, and the company that owns the facility, NextEra Energy Resources, could not immediately be reached. The plant is currently stable at normal operating temperature and pressure, NRC officials said.

NextEra Energy owns about 88.2 percent of the plant, and its share generates enough power to supply the daily needs of more than 900,000 homes, according to a website for the company. It was unclear last night if customers were affected...

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2011/10/07/seabrook_nuclear_power_plant_shuts_down_due_to_low_water_level/