STP Preps for Hurricane Rita

CNN is reporting that South Texas Project plans to shut down its two-reactor power plant in Bay City, Texas - 12 miles inland from the Texas coast - as Rita, now a Category 5 hurricane, nears land.

"We have a specific plan in place on what to do with a hurricane approaching," spokesman Alan Mikus said. "Our plan calls for the complete shutdown of the plant in advance of the storm's arrival."

... He added that the plant shutdown would likely occur about seven hours before landfall. If Rita maintains the forecast track, the hurricane would come ashore early Saturday somewhere between Corpus Christi and Galveston.

Customers will not lose power during the shutdown because other power companies will pick up the load, the spokesman said. The nuclear plant itself will operate off power from other companies for cooling the fuel supply and spent fuel storage, he added.

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