Flood risk higher at Duke’s South Carolina nuclear power plant than originally thought

Dive Summary:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) says that estimates of flooding if South Carolina’s Jocassee Dam failed “have increased substantially” and could plunge Duke Energy’s Oconee nuclear plant into a blackout.
Duke says the Oconee plant is safe from flooding and that it has taken steps to reduce flood risks; the utility also said it started updating flood analyses at Oconee several years ago.
The NRC began a formal study of the safety implications of dam failure on nuclear plants in March.

From the article:

Duke Energy’s Oconee nuclear plant in South Carolina faces more flood risk from an upstream dam than earlier estimated, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says.

Estimates of flooding if the 385-foot-high Jocassee Dam failed “have increased substantially,” says a 2011 NRC report, and could plunge Duke’s biggest nuclear plant into the dire, powerless condition called station blackout. ...