The Florida Department of Environmental Protection reported that 12-foot storm surge from Hurricane Helene inundated the shuttered Duke Energy Corporation’s Crystal River nuclear reactor. The reactor, which shut down in 2013, began accelerated decommissioning in 2020 in partnership with NorthStar Group Services and Orano USA.
“The whole site was flooded, including buildings, sumps, and lift stations. Industrial Wastewater Pond #5 was observed overflowing to the ground due to the surge,” according to a report filed one day after Helene made landfall.
“We are still in the process of obtaining access and assessing the damage, but due to the nature of this event we anticipate difficulty with estimating the total discharge amount of wastewater, and impacts are unknown at this time,” the report said. Despite this, Duke Energy assured the public in its statement that “all radioactive material has been … permanently packaged in shielded containers impervious to the effects of extreme weather.”
Edwin Lyman, a nuclear specialist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said in an email quoted by Bloomberg News, “There is probably still quite a bit of low-level radioactive waste awaiting shipment, and it’s likely the site’s wastewater has low levels of radioactive contamination.” Newsweek reported that the site was also flooded by Hurricane Idalia in 2023. Highly radioactive waste fuel is projected to stay on site until 2037.
Reuters reported that Helene also caused Southern Company to power down a nuclear reactor at its Edwin I. Hatch facility in Georgia, and to reduce power at its second Hatch reactor.
⸺ Bloomberg News, Sept. 28; Reuters, Sept. 27, 2024
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