USA nuclear power plants should never have been built near earthquake faults

Utilities’ nuclear power plants threaten millions The OcNUke Daily – #Occupy Nuclear by Ed Oberweiser Aug 25th, 2012 t’s painfully obvious that nuclear power is harmful and dangerous. France has had 12 nuclear accidents between 1969 and 2012. Japan has had 12 since 1978. There were 46 nuclear accidents in the United States between 1955 and 2011. Utilities’ nuclear power plants threaten millions

http://noyonews.net By Ed Oberweiser Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE) have placed millions of California citizens in danger of a nuclear catastrophe on a par with Fukushima.

They’ve built nuclear power plants near earthquake faults capable of generating earthquakes that could damage the plants and irradiate millions of people.

PG&E constructed the Diablo Canyon Power Plant on the Central California coast near San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay. The plant is 2.5 miles from the Hosgri Fault. The Hosgri Fault is a component of the San Andreas Fault system. It’s considered capable of generating a 7.5 magnitude earthquake.

AB1632 Assessment of California’s Operating Nuclear Plants is a 2008 California Energy Commission (CEC) study. According to the study (http://www.energy.ca.gov/2008publications/CEC-100-2008-005/CEC-100-2008-005-F.PDF), “The deep geometry of faults that bound the San Luis-Pismo block, where Diablo Canyon sits, is not understood sufficiently to rule out a San Simeon-type earthquake directly beneath the plant.”

That same year, the Shoreline Fault was discovered. It’s a 25 kilometer-long fault that lies less than a mile from Diablo Canyon. Some government scientists believe there’s a possibility that faults acting with others in the region could produce a stronger earthquake than Diablo Canyon was constructed to withstand.

During a Spring, 2012 US Geological Survey (USGS) presentation in Menlo Park, one scientist laid out a scenario showing the Hosgri Fault reaching 250 miles from Point Conception to Bolinas. He said if it was that long, it could generate nearly an 8.0 magnitude earthquake. The USGS scientists won’t directly say if the Hosgri fault is that long because it’s officially listed as being only 105 miles long. The USGS is still collecting data through the California Sea Floor Mapping Program.

The San Onofre nuclear power plant is located near Riverside, Orange and San Diego Counties. It’s closest to the city of San Clemente (population 64,491) in Orange County. Orange County’s population as of 2011 is more than three million. The plant is in the northwestern corner of San Diego County, 68 miles from downtown Los Angeles. San Diego County’s population is more than three million. Riverside County’s population is approximately 2.4 million. The population of Los Angeles County is nearly ten million. San Onofre’s radiation could reach any or all of the three counties in the event of a nuclear disaster. ……

There are major uncertainties regarding the seismology of the San Onofre site. They relate to the continuity, structure and earthquake potential of the South Coast Offshore Fault Zone. The uncertainties concern the faulting that connects the Newport-Inglewood Fault in the Los Angeles region with the Rose Canyon Fault in the San Diego region.

Instead of working toward converting to renewable energy production and energy conservation technology, PG&E is stubbornly holding on to nuclear power until the bitter end. It will spend millions on a seismic survey of the faults around Diablo Canyon using acoustic pulse-generating active air guns. These 40 to 360 cubic inch air guns would fire every fifteen seconds, twenty-four hours a day.

The Environmental Impact Report indicates the tests would kill and injure marine mammals, including seals, whales, dolphins and otters. In Peru a mass die off of marine mammals occurred during the same time frame that seismic testing was being done off Peru’s coast. Nearly 900 porpoises and dolphins died there. ….. http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/08/25/18720226.php

September 1, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA

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