nuclear-news

“You can’t not think about it,” says customer Roger Tignor, about the recent magnitude-5.8 quake that jolted the North Anna Power Station 11 miles away.

“I was and am still worried,” manager Shamara Hunter says, shaking her head. Tim Shelton, who’s lived in this small rural town 66 years, isn’t: “God’s got it under control. What happens, happens.”

The quake Aug. 23 rocked the plant more than it was designed to handle — something that had never happened before at any of the nation’s 104 nuclear reactors.

North Anna, 90 miles southwest of the White House, is emerging as a test case for the nuclear industry as it faces increased scrutiny. A presidential task force recommended stricter quake-readiness standards after a quake and tsunami caused meltdowns at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in March.

It’s also challenging federal regulators as they ponder what to review before they allow the plant to restart. The dual-reactor facility was automatically shut down by the quake’s shaking and has remained closed…….

U.S. officials aren’t sure of the seismic activity of the country’s eastern and central regions. The NRC has an ongoing study, begun several years ago, that indicates the hazards could be greater than was known when many of the plants were designed.

“We don’t know where the active faults are,” says William Leith of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Earthquake Hazards Program. He says the quake Aug. 23 occurred almost 4 miles below ground and not on a known active fault. He says the depth of East Coastquakes, unlike surface ones on the West Coast, make them difficult to map…..

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-09-18/earthquake-nuclear-plant/50458252/1