Gov't: N.Y. Power Outages Not Terrorism-Related

Reuters ^ | Reuters

[Political Junkie Too]

I'm always amazed at how the government can't say for certain what caused the problem, but they can instantly declare that it wasn't terrorism.

-PJ

[Libertina]

Nikola Tesla BUMP

[Eric in the Ozarks]

No doubt. Still, a lot of what went into the construction phase was driven by constantly changing rules and a quite antagonistic state government.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

What I want to know is why the nuke plants were shut down also. Why are they still tied to electricity?

[Donna Lee Nardo]

And under LIPA, the rates are still among the highest -- if not still the highest -- in the nation even today.

[kkindt]

"we have no evidence it was a terrorist attack"

OH? So the sophisticated computer software that controls these grids and the computers that control this grid can't be tampered with by a virus/worm or anything like that, right? I mean we aren't running Microsoft OS on the grid are we? Oh, golly, a terrorist can't possibly have figured out way to trigger this problem without us being aware of it, right? THey aren't that smart?

I think any believer in Allah working in the power grid computer system has to come under suspicion because the Koran teaches deception is perfectly legimate against Allah's enemies.

SO far all of these failures of physical aspects of the system are the only things cited as sources of the problem. NO one is suggesting it could be computer/software related. Why not?

[Donna Lee Nardo]

The citizenry on Long Island blocked Shoreham because of the evacuation problem!

[El Sordo]

It's more of an issue of their generating operations, along with other safety concerns.

If the grid goes down, there's nowhere for them to send their power. Most nuclear power plants produce anywhere from 500 to 1200 Megawatts. There's no good way to store that much power. So they just throttle the reactor back and turn the turbine generator down (a 'shut down').

All nuclear power plants in the US have their own means of generating electricity for their own use when their main turbine is off, usually through at least two diesel generators the size of a locomotive. They can power themselves quite happily through most any natural or unnatural disaster that shuts the world down. But for safety concerns, local disasters or emergencies may result in a decision to shut the plant down. Imagine a flood that cut them off from emergency services or manpower. Best just to ease off on the throttle and wait for normalcy. That will all depend on the local management.

It's been a while since I've worked in a nuclear plant. But that's my basic recollection.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

Thanks El Sordo.

[EternalVigilance]

[plain talk]

If they don't know what caused it, how can they say they know it's not terrorism?

[menotyu]

You have a good point. Another thing, where in the U.S. is the largest population of people participating in so called Islamic "fundamentalism" ? The Detroit area, now I'm reading somewhere online that things are starting to point to a 9 second incident in that region of the country. Is this probing? Are they testing our Emergency response systems? Keep your eyes open.

[Preech1]

I was thinking the same, thing...they don't know what happened but ruled out terrorism right away, just like the plane that broke up over Rockaway Beach and Flight 800..."Nothing to see here, move along.."

[Major_Risktaker]

PLUG is a big short on Monday.

[thoughtomator]

Actually it's in parallel, not in series... thanks crash course in electrical engineering =)

[freeperfromnj]

NO one is suggesting it could be computer/software related. Why not?

I have to agree with you on that. I haven't entirely removed my tinfoil hat just yet. Just six months ago when the alert status was raised to High/Orange the feds released the following warning:

The FBI was providing some details about the threat increase to 17,000 police agencies nationwide and to its Joint Terrorism Task Forces — made up of federal, state and local law enforcement personnel — across the country. Ridge also talked with business leaders who run the nation's key infrastructure, such as electric power grids, dams, financial networks and transportation systems.

Government officials have grown increasingly concerned about the likelihood of terrorist attacks within the United States as intelligence sources are reporting an increase in terrorist activity or "chatter." One official said this activity was rivaling that seen before the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

[sheik yerbouty]

The power outage was hugh, then..

[Vineyard]

Well .. .shipment in containers that can withstand a 30 foot vertical drop on a steel spike embedded in concrete means that the shipping containers are fairly durable. If I was a terrorist, I would save the RPG for a train shipment of LNG ..., or chlorine gas, or many other very nasty substances that would have 1/1000th the ability to resist any terrorist attack.

Nuclear power has one problem - people's perception. As a nuclear engineer, I find that many complaints about nuclear power concern "risks" - but if the same risk studies are applied to other sectors of the economy (power generation, or any other area), the risks are much greater (but still very small.)

Mike

[Vineyard]

Of course, on the evacuation issue, the NRC mandates a 10 mile radius - while the anti-Nuke's insisted (and got) the unachievable 20 mile radius. (4 times the area.)

Of course, studies on containment strength, breaching containment, etc. demostrated that a 2 mile radius would be more than adequate ... but the anti-nukes are never confused by technical details ... they just ignore them.

Imaging the cost of hydro-electric power if a backup dam had to be installed. More people were killed in the 20th century by dam failures than were killed by nuclear power plants (excluding the non-licensable Chernobyl design.)

But LILCO was same design as Connecticut's Millstone I, which was placed into operation in the early 1980's, without problem. Since they were identical design, much of the carping and allegations about LILCO are simply B.S.

It has been common practice to allege defects as a plant comes near operation - by anti-nuke crowds, or by construction workers who want to stretch out their work and avoid layoffs after the plant is completed. There is a long proven history of it ... and most of the time the allegations are proven to be unfounded, and the plant is allowed to go on-line.

LILCO did get a site license to do low-power testing - and the NRC would never have authorized it if the plant had deficiencies. But New York was determined to not let the plant go operational, come hell or high-water. So my feelinng is. .. "let the ba$tard$ freeze in the dark!"

Mike