Killona, La. – Entergy officials today made the conservative decision to bring the Waterford 3 Steam Electric Station offline in advance of Hurricane Isaac's landfall.

The plant began powering down at roughly 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon and is now offline.

Both Waterford 3 in Killona, La. and River Bend Station, near St. Francisville, La. have sequestered roughly 100 core employees each, not including security staff. Other employees have been released until after the storm.

Waterford 3 is designed to withstand the impact of 200 mph hurricane winds and will provide safe shelter for employees remaining at the plant. Steel-reinforced concrete containment structures protect the reactor, and redundant safety systems have been designed to withstand the impact of earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and floods greater than the historical regional maximum.

Farther from the storm's potential impact, Entergy's River Bend Station in St. Francisville, La., and Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Port Gibson, Miss., are operating under severe weather procedures that involve plant walk-downs, equipment checks and detailed staffing plans.

There is sufficient generation available within the Entergy system to meet electrical demand without Waterford 3. After the storm has passed, Waterford 3 will restart based on grid conditions and concurrence from federal authorities.

Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including more than 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation's leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 15,000 employees.