MSNBC just reported on the massive power outage across Florida due to a power surge and that a nuclear power plant lost power.
Am I the only one who finds it disturbing that something designed to make power, loses the power to make that power? And is the word "surge" the most overused descriptor of the decade?
UPDATE: Make that two nuke plants!? Reuters reports that both nuclear power facilities at Turkey Point have been shut down due to lost of "off-site" power.
CNN reported that eight power plants in South Florida in the Miami area were out of service.
The 2,196 MW Turkey Point station is located in Florida City in Miami-Dade County, about 25 miles south of Miami.
There are several units at Turkey Point: the 398 MW oil/natural gas-fired Unit 1, the 400 MW oil/gas-fired Unit 2, two 693 MW nuclear units, 3 and 4, the 1,150 MW combined-cycle gas-fired Unit 5, and a handful of 2 MW and 3 MW oil-fired turbines.
I didn't know you had to plug a nuclear power plant into something else, and you'd think one of the other plants nearby would do the trick.
However, I don't know enough about energy production to have been invited to Dick Cheney's lair for secret talks, so what I think doesn't really matter, does it.
Source: Dispassionate Liberal
Florida Power & Light Company On Power Outage
Florida Power & Light Company reports that it expects to restore service to most customers affected by the current outage within approximately two hours. Customers who have signed up for the On Call service may not have the use of those affected appliances for an additional hour. The system is being restored in a systematic process to ensure its safe operation at all times. The company does not have a cause for the outage, which is affecting several hundred thousand customers but the system responded as designed to ensure the outage was contained. We ask you to please call us only in an emergency situation so we can keep our lines open for emergency calls.
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#1 Florida Power Outage
"Am I the only one who finds it disturbing that something designed to make power, loses the power to make that power?...I didn't know you had to plug a nuclear power plant into something else, and you'd think one of the other plants nearby would do the trick."
The generating plants feed their output into the 'grid' which delivers it to your local electrical distrubution utility which delivers it to your house.
More than likely something tripped a breaker on one of the transmission lines (the portion of the system typically called the grid) and the generators shut down because of no load (you don't keep your car revved up to freeway RPM's when sitting in rush hour, do you? Well, if you're over 20 anyway...).
If all the generators are sitting in the same location and the transmission is off line, it doesn't matter if there is enough capacity to continue to feed the load if the means of getting to your house isn't functioning.
#2 So there's a bunch on UFO
So there's a bunch on UFO reports over nuclear plants in Florida during the past 48 hours, but no mention in any media story, just the usual "no explanation?"