Oyster Creek and Calvert Cliff 1 close for hurricane

Sunday, 28 August 2011 Two nuclear power plants shut down after Hurricane Irene tracked along the east coast of the USA. Oyster Creek, operated by Exelon in New Jersey, was powered down at around 5.00pm on 27 August as high winds approached. Constellation's Calvert Cliffs unit 1 reactor in Maryland shut down automatically after aluminium debris hit a transformer, while the plant's second unit continued unaffected. No other reactors needed to shut down, but power was temporarily reduced at Millstone 1 and 2, Brunswick 1 and 2, and Limerick 1 and 2 to minimise potential impact to the grid should sudden shutdown have become necessary.