Posted on 08/23/2011 11:39:17 AM PDT by freespirited
A 5.9 magnitude earthquake centered just northwest of Richmond, Va., shook much of Washington, D.C., and was felt throughout the Eastern seaboard and iron belt region of the United States. In the wake of the much more powerful Japanese earthquake of earlier this year, and its effect on the nearby Fukushima nuclear plant, this is certain to bring attention to the Virginian nuclear plant that may have been effected as well.
While there are no reports yet on the integrity of the local plant, reports of the epicenter being based in Mineral, Virgina suggest that the North Anna nuclear plant is located just a short 10 miles away.
The North Anna plant was built in the late 1970s and the two reactors went online in 1978 and 1980. According to not always reliable Wikipedia entry, the plant is located in a relatively rural area:
"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.[2]
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of North Anna was 21,396, an increase of 15.7 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80 km) was 1,912,015, an increase of 22.6 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Richmond (40 miles to city center).[3]"
Expect to hear a lot more about North Anna and the U.S. nuclear power industry as a hot-button topic in the coming days and weeks.
If they shut it down, there goes power to the federal bureaucracy in Northern Virginia. Their beloved solar panels are no replacement.
Yes, in Japan the Tsunami took out the backup generators and made access to the plant very difficult. However, they have been discovering that a lot of damage was done to the plant via the earthquake alone. This quake was about 1,000 times weaker then the Japan quake, but these nuke plants apparently were very close to epicenter.
Just had a thought, what if these plants are still on backup generators when the Hurricane hits ?
An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale just occurred less than a hour ago. It's epicenter was in Mineral, VA—approximately 10 miles from two nuclear power reactors at the North Anna site. According to a representative of Dominion Power, the two reactors were designed to withstand a 5.9-6.1 quake. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) ranked the North Anna Reactors as being 7th in the nation in terms of earthquake risks.
North Anna Nuclear Reactors Designed to Withstand 5.9 - 6.1 Magnitude Earthquake
glad to see this thread... (let’s hope and pray there isn’t a bigger one coming to the area)
Thanks for that. Ordinarily I would ignore the far lefty Marxists of the Institute for Policy Studies. But the paragraph you quote sounds accurate. (Did a fair amount of reading this afternoon.)
The statement that the nukes “lost power” probably is not. The Washington Post, as well as FReepers, say that safety systems kicked in and turned them off. I guess the left has to throw in at one false alarm per post.
Both reactors have been shut down. The emergency diesel generators started as off-site power from the electric grid was lost. No release of radioactive material has occurred beyond those minor releases associated with normal station operations.
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