nuclear-news

Earthquake risk to India’s planned huge Jaitapur nuclear plant

Jaitapur nuclear plant site not immune to earthquake: Experts Economic Times, 23 Nov 11 BANGALORE: Two leading geologists have warned that a magnitude 6-plus earthquake cannot be ruled out in Jaitapur – the proposed site of India’s largest 9,900 MW nuclear power plant on the west coast that has seen protests against it for safety reasons – and that it could occur within the lifetime of the power plant.

“Since Jaitapur lies in the same compressional stress regime that has
been responsible for generating both the magnitude 6.3 Latur and
magnitude 6.4 Koyna earthquakes in the past five decades, it can be
argued that a similar sized earthquake could possibly occur directly
beneath the power plant,” they say in a report in the latest issue of
Current Science published by the Indian Academy of Sciences in
Bangalore.

“The probability of this earthquake occurring is low but it is
nevertheless possible, and is an important consideration in the
analysis of power plant safety,” say its authors — Roger Bilham in
the department of geological sciences of the University of Colorado,
US, and Vinod Gaur in the CSIR Centre for Mathematical Modelling and
Computer Simulation in Bangalore.

According to Bilham and Gaur, the Indian Plate is unique among the
world’s continental plates in that it is flexed by its collision with
the Tibetan Plateau resulting in “belts” of buckling parallel to the
Himalaya that extend southward, deep into the plate interior. …..
moderate events such as the Koyna earthquake at distances less than
30 km and larger ones at distances greater than 100 km can also
produce significant shaking, they say.

This level of shaking can be easily accommodated by most nuclear power
plants, but considering that Jaitapur lies in a tectonic setting
similar to Latur and Koyna, an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 is “not
unlikely” there, they say. “It could occur within the lifetime of the
nuclear power plant.”
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/jaitapur-nuclear-plant-site-not-immune-to-earthquake-experts/articleshow/10840888.cms

November 24, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, safety