Thursday, September 7, 2017

Looming Catastrophes as Black Swans Accumulate


Two nuclear power plants at direct risk from Hurricane Irma in Florida: Turkey Point and St. Lucie:
Sophie Caronello (September 6, 2017). Nuclear Plants in Irma's Path Plan Shutdowns Ahead of Storm. Bloomberg, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-06/nuclear-plants-in-irma-s-path-plan-shutdowns-ahead-of-storm-map

As Hurricane Irma continues to thrash its way over islands in the Caribbean, Florida is bracing for landfall as early as Sunday morning. Two of the Sunshine State’s nuclear facilities are in the Category 5 storm’s path: Turkey Point, south of Miami, and St. Lucie, north of Jupiter, both on the Atlantic coast. Turkey Point withstood Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the last storm to make landfall in Florida as a Category 5, with minimal damage. Operator NextEra Energy Inc. will shut the plants "long before" the onset of hurricane force winds, spokesman Peter Robbins told Bloomberg by phone Wednesday.
Today Fox News is reporting that the operators promise to shut down plants by Saturday if hurricane looks as if it will hit Sunday:
2 Florida nuclear plants likely to shut down if Irma continues path. (September 7, 2017). Fox News http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/09/07/2-florida-nuclear-plants-likely-to-shut-down-if-irma-continues-path.html

… Peter Robbins, spokesman for Florida Power and Light, said shutting down a reactor is a gradual process, and the decision will be made “well in advance” of the Category 5 storm making landfall.  If we anticipate there will be direct impacts on either facility, we’ll shut down the units,” Robbins told the Miami Herald.
I hope that there is no delay in shutting down those reactors as the BLACK SWAN EVENTS seem to be accumulating:
Sarah Lewin (September 6, 2017). Sun Unleashes Monster Solar Flare, Strongest in a Decade, Space.com https://www.space.com/38057-sun-unleashes-decades-strongest-solar-flare.html
 Early this morning (Sept. 6), the sun released two powerful solar flares — the second was the most powerful in more than a decade. At 5:10 a.m. EDT (0910 GMT), an X-class solar flare — the most powerful sun-storm category — blasted from a large sunspot on the sun's surface. That flare was the strongest since 2015, at X2.2, but it was dwarfed just 3 hours later, at 8:02 a.m. EDT (1202 GMT), by an X9.3 flare, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). The last X9 flare occurred in 2006 (coming in at X9.0).

Suspicious Observers updates us on incoming coronal mass ejection (CME):

 

Good news is that Electrical Grid Impacts are viewed as unlikely - this time! Thank goodness.




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