"Inaccessible" North Carolina Nuclear Plant Declares "Unusual Event" During Storm-Driven "Hot Shutdown"

Duke Energy’s Brunswick nuclear plant, about 30 miles south of Wilmington, has declared a state of emergency as the 1,200-acre complex remains cut off by flood waters and and is inaccessible to outside personnel. Just as we warned a week ago, The News & Observer reports, at this time, no one can come in and relieve the Duke Energy workers and NRC “storm riders” who have been on site for days, NRC spokesman Joey Ledford said. And it would not be possible to evacuate the 10-mile emergency evacuation zone around the site if a higher level of emergency were declared. “None of the roads are passable,” Ledford said. “The plant is safe. The reactors are in hot stand-by mode 3 shutdown.”

But as Intellihub reports, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is being tight-lipped about an “unusual event” which occurred at the Brunswick Nuclear Plant last Saturday which forced a “hot shutdown” of both the plant’s Generation IV-type reactors 1 and 2. The NRC classified the emergency as an “unusual event” but provided little to no details on the situation. Additionally, the NRC reports that weather conditions from Tropical Storm Florence are currently preventing workers from accessing the plant. “A hazardous event has resulted in on site conditions sufficient to prohibit the plant staff from accessing the site via personal vehicles due to flooding of local roads by Tropical Storm Florence.”The current rector mode is showing as “hot shutdown” and more rain is on the way. River waters in the area are expected to rise as much as 20 feet in the coming days. Not to mention, local dams in the area may be to capacity. Brunswick is equipped with emergency backup diesel generators to operate essential equipment if the facility lost off-site power from the grid. Ledford said that the reactors never lost power and the generators never had to be activated.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-17/inaccessible-north-carolina-nuclear-plant-declares-unusual-event-during-storm

Nunes: House Intel To Release 70 Transcripts From Trump-Russia Probe

The House Intelligence Committee will release transcripts and documents for approximately 70 witness interviews conducted during their investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 US election. "We believe that the depositions that we took, I think for nearly about 70 people those need to be published, and they need to be published I think before the election," Nunes told Fox News's "Sunday Morning Futures." "By published I mean put out for the American people to review, so that they can see the work that we did and they can see all of the people that were interviewed by us, and there are answers to those questions. I think full transparency is in order here so I expect to make those available from our committee to the American public here in the next few weeks," Nunes continued. That said, around a quarter of the interviews may contain classified information and would need to be approved for release and declassified by the diretor of national intelligence, Dan Coats. Nunes says this process "would only take a matter of days." According to the Daily Caller, the committee conducted 73 witness interviews.

Last Wednesday, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) called on the committee to release the transcripts of interviews from the investigation. Democrats on the committee have long called for releasing the transcripts, after repeatedly accusing Republicans of conducting an incomplete and misleading investigation - including claims that some witnesses weren't thoroughly probed. "Now, the Chairman is again promising to release the transcripts," said ranking committee Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff in a Sunday statement. "We hope this time he will follow through on his commitment by scheduling a business meeting immediately and allowing a new vote to release all the transcripts. A few will need classification review by the Intelligence Community, but most will not." Schiff also said the public release of the transcripts will "facilitate the work of the Special Counsel, who will have access to the evidence contained in the testimony and may consider who may have committed perjury before Congress.” Some Republicans have expressed concern that releasing the transcripts would create a hindrance to having potential witnesses testify in the future, according to Fox News. -Washington Examiner

During his Sunday interview, Nunes claimed the mainstream media are "drinking the Russian Kool-Aid" and that Trump "doesn't have any choice" but to declassify documents related to the FBI/DOJ counterintelligence operation against him and his campaign. According to Axios, President Trump is expected to do so imminently.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-17/nunes-house-intel-release-70-transcripts-trump-russia-probe