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Permalink Reply by guest_blog on August 23, 2011 at 3:23pm

Ah yes, there is a nuclear reactor right where that quake just struck!

Click for larger

 

Lake Anna Reactor Ranked 7th most At-Risk for Earthquake Damage

Posted: Mar 16, 2011

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.

 

Permalink Reply by guest_blog on August 23, 2011 at 3:34pm

from wrh's mike rivero

 

Virginia quake only 1/10th of a mile deep?!?!?!?!?

Magnitude
5.9
Date-Time
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 17:51:04 UTC
Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 01:51:04 PM at epicenter
Location
37.881°N, 77.952°W
Depth
0.1 km (~0.1 mile) (poorly constrained)
Region
VIRGINIA
Distances
14 km (9 miles) SSW (195°) from Mineral, VA
17 km (10 miles) SSE (165°) from Louisa, VA
23 km (14 miles) NE (52°) from Columbia, VA
58 km (36 miles) NW (312°) from Richmond, VA
141 km (88 miles) SW (216°) from Washington, DC
Location Uncertainty
horizontal +/- 2.3 km (1.4 miles); depth +/- 3.1 km (1.9 miles)
Parameters
NST= 22, Nph= 23, Dmin=50 km, Rmss=0.44 sec, Gp= 79°,
M-type=centroid moment magnitude (Mw), Version=B
Source
Southeast U.S. Seismic Network
Event ID
se082311a

Between the shallow depth and no aftershocks, this event gets weirder and weirder.

Permalink Reply by guest_blog on August 23, 2011 at 3:37pm

North Anna Nuke Plant Trips Offline In Earthquake

The two-reactor North Anna nuclear power plant in Virginia automatically shut down following a 5.8 magnitude earthquake this afternoon.

The two reactors both automatically shut down safely, Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesperson Elizabeth Stuckle confirmed. North Anna is the closest plant to the epicenter of the earthquake.

Four diesel generators automatically came on to power the plant and are working well, Stuckle said.

http://energy.aol.com/2011/08/23/north-anna-nuke-plant-trips-offlin...

Permalink Reply by guest_blog on August 23, 2011 at 3:43pm

Permalink Reply by guest_blog on August 23, 2011 at 3:47pm

The North Anna Power Station in central Virginia lost offsite power. The plant, which has two nuclear reactors, is now using four diesel generators to maintain cooling operations. The plant automatically shut down in the wake of the earthquake.

"As far as we know, everything is safe," said Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman David McIntyre.

Seven nuclear plants on the East Coast declared unusual events, said the NRC. The declaration is the least serious of four emergency notifications.

Jim Steets, a spokesman for Entergy, the company that owns the Indian Point nuclear plant 50 miles north of New York City, reported "no issues" there after the quake.

Permalink Reply by guest_blog on August 23, 2011 at 3:47pm

2 nuclear reactors taken offline after Va. quake
Associated Press

Richmond, Va.— Federal officials say two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station in Louisa County, Va., were automatically taken off line by safety systems around the time of the earthquake.

The Dominion-operated power plant is being run off of four emergency diesel generators, which are supplying power for critical safety equipment.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Roger Hannah says the agency was not immediately aware of any damage at nuclear power plants in the southeast. The NRC and Dominion are sending people to inspect the site.

Hanna said he knows of no other shut reactor but that unusual events were reported at a dozen other plant sites.

Louisa County is about 40 miles northwest of Richmond.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110823/NATION/108230426/2-nuclear-reac...

Permalink Reply by guest_blog on August 23, 2011 at 3:52pm

via twitter #quake damage in Richmond...

Permalink Reply by guest_blog on August 23, 2011 at 3:52pm

Where the quake hit http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Maps...

Where that is: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Lake+Anna,+VA&hl=en&sll=3...

Permalink Reply by guest_blog on August 23, 2011 at 3:54pm

reminder - In the hours after the 3/11 quake everybody was assured that Fukushima had safely shut down.

Later we learned that the quake had severely damaged it even before they ran out of power,
and it was already melting down

Permalink Reply by guest_blog on August 23, 2011 at 4:08pm

Live News Video Stream added

Permalink Reply by Burbia on August 23, 2011 at 4:59pm

Dow up 322 as energy, tech shares rally

http://money.msn.com/market-news/post.aspx?post=abb80e6e-fe72-4f92-...

Permalink Reply by BS on August 24, 2011 at 12:20am

Money Loving Bastards

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