Title: EARTHQUAKE HITS VA 5.8 34 MILES NW OF RICHMOND WE FELT IT UP HERE Source:
[None] URL Source:[None] Published:Aug 23, 2011 Author:WAR Post Date:2011-08-23 13:58:24 by war Keywords:None Views:18502 Comments:37
#20. To: Nuclear Plant Near Epicenter Shuts Down (#0)
A nuclear power plant located in Louisa County, the epicenter of the earthquake in Virginia, has shut down.
The North Anna Power Station, operated by Dominion Power, has two reactors. The plant declared an "unusual event" in the wake of the 5.9 magnitude quake, which is the lowest stage on the plant's emergency scale.
Lake Anna Reactor Ranked 7th most At-Risk for Earthquake Damage
The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ranked the earthquake damage risk at all 104 nuclear power plants in this country. The pair operated by Dominion Power, at Lake Anna in eastern Louisa County, come in at 7th most 'at risk' on the list.
According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, North Anna 1 and 2 face an annual 1 in 22,727 chance of the core being damaged by an earthquake and exposing the public to radiation. The national average for U.S. nuclear plants is a 1 in 74,000 chance.
The top five most at-risk plants are all on the east coast: Indian Point, north of New York City; the Pilgrim Plant south of Boston, Limerick outside of Philadelphia, the Sequoyah plants near Chattanooga Tennessee and Beaver Valley near Pittsburgh. These five plants are at a higher statistical risk than those along fault lines in California, for example, because they were not designed for and built in presumed strong quake danger areas. Since they were constructed the federal government has revised upwards the quake risks where they are.
According to Jim Norvelle with Dominion Power, North Anna was designed to withstand a magnitude 5.9 – 6.1 earthquake.
