"Unusual Event" at Oldest US Nuclear Power Plant Upgraded to an "Alert"
...The oldest U.S. nuclear power plant, New Jerseys Oyster Creek, was already out of service for scheduled refueling. But high water levels at the facility, which sits along Barnegat Bay, prompted safety officials to declare an unusual event around 7 p.m. About two hours later, the situation was upgraded to an alert, the second-lowest in a four-tiered warning system.
Conditions were still safe at Oyster Creek, Indian Point and all other U.S. nuclear plants, said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees plant safety.
A rising tide, the direction of the wind and the storms surge combined to raise water levels in Oyster Creeks intake structure, the NRC said. The agency said that water levels are expected to recede within hours and that the plant, which went online in 1969 and is set to close in 2019, is watertight and capable of withstanding hurricane-force winds.
The plants owner, Exelon Corp., said power was also disrupted in the stations switchyard, but backup diesel generators were providing stable power, with more than two weeks of fuel on hand.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/nuclear-power-plants-prepare-to-shut-down-if-storm-sends-water-wind-levels-too-high/2012/10/29/e8e5dc6e-2226-11e2-92f8-7f9c4daf276a_story.html
Indian Point was shut down and no trouble was reported there.