You gotta be frinkin' kiddin' me!

[melo_annechen]

37 Die In South, Midwest Heat Wave

The excerpt details the blurb what caught my attention on the radio:

The Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation's largest public utility, shut down one of three units at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant in Athens, Ala., because water drawn from the Tennessee River was exceeding a 90-degree average over 24 hours.

"We don't believe we've ever shut down a nuclear unit because of river temperature," said John Moulton, spokesman for the Knoxville, Tenn.-based utility.

The shutdown posed no safety threat, officials said. The TVA will compensate for the loss of power by buying power elsewhere, Moulton said.

Further commentary provided by the Official Consort to The Queens of the RTA:

TVA has shut down one of its reactors because the river water, at 90 degrees Fahrenheit, is too warm to cool the system. Heck, I think they should have let it melt. Tennessee needs a Chernobyl. Just think what thousands of square miles of radioactive forest and field and a few abandoned towns littered with day-glow corpses could do for us. Giant mutant squirrels and possums shambling out of the woods like extras from Night of the Living Dead and devouring cheerleaders at high school football games! Ticks who have taken on the other characteristics of used-car salesmen! Road kill that conveniently glows in the dark for easy pick up! You think people in Tennessee are weird now? Just wait! We could make horror movies and not have to spend a penny on special effects. The possibilities are endless.

Comments

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

Sadly, radiation doesn't work like that. It just gives you cancer. Don't blame me, I voted for giant squirrels.

[annechen-melo.livejournal.com]

Na, hon - the radiation is just the catalyst for all the other junk that's been dumped in the backwoods. Not much of it has been labeled, so there's no telling what we'll get.

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

[jaw drops at river temp] Even from the bottom???

[annechen-melo.livejournal.com]

We've had triple-digit highs for almost a fortnight over most of the Tennessee River valley. I haven't checked the Wildlife site for how it is affecting the aquatic population.