NRC will re-evaluate quake risk at plantsAug 06 - Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA)
A new computer model may help U.S. nuclear power plants, including the North Anna Power Station here, better understand earthquake hazards. The Electric Power Research Institute, an industry group, will present an updated ground-motion model to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission today in Rockville, Md. The session, which will be available online at nrc.gov, begins at noon. EPRI last updated its model between 2004 and 2006. The latest effort was prompted by the March 11, 2011, quake and tsunami that seriously damaged reactors and contaminated the countryside around the Fukushima Daiichi plant on Japan's northern coast. Nuclear power plants in the central and eastern United States will use the models to re-evaluate their earthquake hazard as part of the lessons learned from the Fukushima accident. The North Anna plant, near Mineral on Lake Anna in Louisa County, had its two reactors knocked offline during the magnitude-5.8 tremor that shook much of the East Coast on Aug. 23, 2011 five months after the quake in Japan. It was the first U.S. plant to be idled by earthquake ground motion. While there was no significant damage to equipment or safety systems at North Anna, it was determined that ground motion from that quake briefly exceeded the plant's design limit. After the earthquake, Dominion power agreed to look into whether any changes were needed in its seismic analysis for a planned third reactor at North Anna. There are 104 commercial reactors operating across the nation. Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431 rdennen@freelancestar.com ___ (c)2013 The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.) Visit The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.) at www.fredericksburg.com/flshome |