#Wildfire risks high at #US #NuclearPlants

Posted on January 19, 2025 by beyondnuclearinternational

The GAO identifies a number of US nuclear power plant sites that are vulnerable to the possible outbreak of #wildfires where they are located.

"'According to our analysis of U.S. Forest Service and NRC data, about 20 percent of nuclear power plants (16 of 75) are located in areas with a high or very high potential for wildfire,' the GAO report states. 'More specifically, more than one-third of nuclear power plants in the South (nine of 25) and West (three of eight) are located in areas with a high or very high potential for wildfire.' The GAO goes on to identify 'Of the 16 plants with high or very high potential for wildfire, 12 are operating and four are shut down.'

"To analyze exposure to the wildfire hazard potential, the GAO used 2023 data from the U.S. Forest Service’s Wildfire Hazard Potential Map. 'High / very high refers to plants in areas with high or very high wildfire hazard potential. Those nuclear power stations described by GAO as 'high / very high' exposure to wildfires and their locations are excerpted from GAO Appendix III: Nuclear Power Plant Exposure to Selected Natural Hazards.

Table 1: Potential High Exposure to 'Wildfires' at Operating Nuclear Power Plants

–AZ / #SAFER, one of two mobile nuclear emergency equipment supply units in the nation, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–CA / #DiabloCanyon Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–FL / #TurkeyPoint Units 3 & 4 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–GA / #EdwinIHatch Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–GA / #Vogtle Units Units 1, 2, 3 & 4, nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #BrunswickNC Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #McGuireNC Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NC / #ShearonHarris Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH /VERY HIGH”
–NB / #CooperNuclearPowerStation, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–SC / #Catawba Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–SC / #HBRobinson Units 1 & 2 nuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–WA / #ColumbiaNuclear power station, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”

Table 2: Potential High Exposure to “Wildfires” at Shutdown Nuclear Power Plants

–CA / #SanOnofre Units 1 & 2, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–FL / #CrystalRiver, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NJ / #OysterCreek, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”
–NY / #IndianPoint Units 1, 2 & 3, “HIGH / VERY HIGH”

"Wildfires can transport #radioactive contamination from nuclear facilities

"A historical review of wildfires that occur around nuclear facilities (research, military and commercial power) identifies that these events are also a very effective transport mechanism of radioactivity previously generated at these sites and subsequently released into the environment by accident, spills and leaks, and careless dumping. The radioactivity is #resuspended by wildfires that occur years, even decades later.

"The fires carry the radioactivity on smoke particles #downwind, thus expanding the zone of #contamination further and further with each succeeding fire. The dispersed #radionuclides can have very long half-lives meaning they remain biologically hazardous in the environment for decades, centuries and longer."

Read more:
https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2025/01/19/wildfire-risks-high-at-nuclear-plants/
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