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To: JDN who wrote (134847)	8/29/2005 1:17:49 AM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793882

New Orleans-area nuclear plant shuts for Katrina cnn.netscape.cnn.com WASHINGTON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - The Waterford nuclear power plant near New Orleans shut down in advance of fierce Hurricane Katrina heading toward the low-lying Gulf Coast city, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said on Sunday. The NRC said Waterford, about 20 miles (32 km) west of New Orleans, took the step to ensure all safety precautions were in place before the storm, which is expected to come ashore around sunrise on Monday. It said the plant's main concern beyond winds was the storm surge, last predicted to approach the top of an 18-foot (5-metre) levee on the Mississippi River. The agency said it sent additional personnel to Waterford as well as the River Bend plant 25 miles (40 km) north-northwest of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Grand Gulf plant 25 miles (40 km) south of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The three plants are owned by Entergy Nuclear . "Nuclear plants are very robust structures designed to withstand winds in excess of those in Katrina and associated storm surges," the NRC said in a statement. "Both Waterford and the other plants have watertight doors at key safety systems." Katrina was packing 160-mph (266-kph) winds on Sunday night and was a potentially catastrophic Category 5 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. Waterford initially declared an "unusual event" because of the hurricane's approach and would raise its level of preparedness on the NRC's four-step scale to an "alert" as winds reached hurricane strength and to a "site area emergency" should winds exceed 110 mph (177 kph), the agency said. The NRC said it would have to approve the restart of Waterford and any other plant that shuts down. © Copyright Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Reuters Ltd. 08/28/2005 22:03 RTR