Source: Forbes
Date: 10.03.11, 05:44 PM EDT
by: MICHAEL FELBERBAUM
MINERAL, Va. --
Two nuclear reactors at Dominion Virginia Power's North
Anna Power Station did not sustain any significant damage from the Aug.
23 earthquake and the company responded appropriately when the reactors
were automatically shut down, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said
Monday.
...
Read full article here
Editor's Note: North Anna Nuclear Generating Station shown in map below.
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Showing posts with label Mineral. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mineral. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
9/10/2011 East Coast Earthquake: Twice What Nuclear Plant Designed to Withstand
Source: USA Today via ABC News
Date: 9/10/2011
by: Wendy Koch
...
Read full article here
Date: 9/10/2011
by: Wendy Koch
The North Anna Power Station operated by
Dominion Energy remains offline after losing offsite power in the wake
of a 5.8 earthquake, Aug. 24, 2011, near Mineral, Va. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The 5.8-magnitude earthquake last month in Virginia caused about twice as much ground shaking as a nearby nuclear power plant was designed to withstand, according to a preliminary federal analysis.
The 5.8-magnitude earthquake last month in Virginia caused about twice as much ground shaking as a nearby nuclear power plant was designed to withstand, according to a preliminary federal analysis.
Read full article here
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
8/23/2011 Quake sensors removed around Virginia nuke plant due to budget cuts
Source: The Raw Story
Date: Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011 -- 3:52 pm
by:
A nuclear power plant that was shut down after an earthquake struck central Virginia Tuesday had seismographs removed in 1990s due to budget cuts.
U.S. nuclear officials said that the North Anna Power Station, which has two nuclear reactors, had lost offsite power and was using diesel generators to maintain cooling operations after an 5.9 earthquake hit the region.
The North Anna plant, which was near the epicenter of Tuesday's quake, is reportedly located on a fault line.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission rates the plant as the seventh most likely to receive core damage from a quake. But they say the chances of that are only 1 in 22,727.
According to the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME), the Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory (VTSO) removed all seismographs from around the plant in the 1990s due to budget cuts.
In February, Dominion Virginia Power confirmed its commitment to add a third reactor to the plant.
"While Dominion has not decided on the schedule to build the unit, the company will continue to move forward with the federal combined operating license process and preliminary site development work," Dominion CEO Thomas F. Farrell II said in a statement.
Update: Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) Senior Scholar Bob Alvarez told the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) that the North Anna plant was built to withstand a 5.9-6.1 quake.
Date: Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011 -- 3:52 pm
by:
A nuclear power plant that was shut down after an earthquake struck central Virginia Tuesday had seismographs removed in 1990s due to budget cuts.
U.S. nuclear officials said that the North Anna Power Station, which has two nuclear reactors, had lost offsite power and was using diesel generators to maintain cooling operations after an 5.9 earthquake hit the region.
The North Anna plant, which was near the epicenter of Tuesday's quake, is reportedly located on a fault line.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission rates the plant as the seventh most likely to receive core damage from a quake. But they say the chances of that are only 1 in 22,727.
According to the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME), the Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory (VTSO) removed all seismographs from around the plant in the 1990s due to budget cuts.
In February, Dominion Virginia Power confirmed its commitment to add a third reactor to the plant.
"While Dominion has not decided on the schedule to build the unit, the company will continue to move forward with the federal combined operating license process and preliminary site development work," Dominion CEO Thomas F. Farrell II said in a statement.
Update: Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) Senior Scholar Bob Alvarez told the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) that the North Anna plant was built to withstand a 5.9-6.1 quake.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
8/23/2011 Virginia nuclear plant shut down by quake
Source: CNN
Date: 8/23/2011
(CNN) -- Tuesday's Virginia earthquake triggered the shutdown of a nearby nuclear power plant and spurred declarations of "unusual events" at plants as far away as Michigan, U.S. authorities reported.
Dominion Virginia Power said both reactors at its North Anna plant, less than 20 miles from the epicenter of the magnitude-5.8 quake, shut down after the first tremors. Amanda Reidelbach, an emergency management spokeswoman for Louisa County, said the plant vented steam, but there was no release of radioactive material.
David Heacock, the utility's chief nuclear officer, said the plant was operating on emergency power and the units were safely deactivated.
"The plants are designed for this kind of a seismic event," Heacock said. "There is no apparent damage to anything at the plant right now."
Heacock said the plant had four diesel generators supplying backup power and that those generators had three days of fuel. However, off-site electric power was expected to be restored later Tuesday, he said.
Dominion Virginia said reactors at its other nuclear station, the Surry plant near Newport News, were still running.
The North Anna plant is about 50 miles northwest of Richmond and about 90 miles southwest of Washington. Operators declared an alert -- the second-lowest level of emergency reporting under U.S. nuclear regulations -- after the quake struck shortly before 2 p.m., the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.
Twelve other plants in six states issued an "unusual event" declaration, the lowest level of emergency notice, according to the NRC. They included the Shearon Harris plant in North Carolina; the Calvert Cliffs plant in Maryland; Pennsylvania's Susquehanna, Three Mile Island, Limerick and Peach Bottom plants; the Oyster Creek, Hope Creek and Salem plants in New Jersey; and the D.C. Cook and Palisades plants in Michigan.
"All these plants continue to operate while plant personnel examine their sites," the NRC said.
CNN's Emily Smith, Jeanne Meserve, Scott Bronstein and Shawn Nottingham contributed to this report.
Date: 8/23/2011
(CNN) -- Tuesday's Virginia earthquake triggered the shutdown of a nearby nuclear power plant and spurred declarations of "unusual events" at plants as far away as Michigan, U.S. authorities reported.
Dominion Virginia Power said both reactors at its North Anna plant, less than 20 miles from the epicenter of the magnitude-5.8 quake, shut down after the first tremors. Amanda Reidelbach, an emergency management spokeswoman for Louisa County, said the plant vented steam, but there was no release of radioactive material.
David Heacock, the utility's chief nuclear officer, said the plant was operating on emergency power and the units were safely deactivated.
"The plants are designed for this kind of a seismic event," Heacock said. "There is no apparent damage to anything at the plant right now."
Heacock said the plant had four diesel generators supplying backup power and that those generators had three days of fuel. However, off-site electric power was expected to be restored later Tuesday, he said.
Dominion Virginia said reactors at its other nuclear station, the Surry plant near Newport News, were still running.
The North Anna plant is about 50 miles northwest of Richmond and about 90 miles southwest of Washington. Operators declared an alert -- the second-lowest level of emergency reporting under U.S. nuclear regulations -- after the quake struck shortly before 2 p.m., the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.
Twelve other plants in six states issued an "unusual event" declaration, the lowest level of emergency notice, according to the NRC. They included the Shearon Harris plant in North Carolina; the Calvert Cliffs plant in Maryland; Pennsylvania's Susquehanna, Three Mile Island, Limerick and Peach Bottom plants; the Oyster Creek, Hope Creek and Salem plants in New Jersey; and the D.C. Cook and Palisades plants in Michigan.
"All these plants continue to operate while plant personnel examine their sites," the NRC said.
CNN's Emily Smith, Jeanne Meserve, Scott Bronstein and Shawn Nottingham contributed to this report.
8/23/2011 M5.9 earthquake causes North Anna Nuclear Generating Station shutdown
CNBC (host Bill Griffith) reports that the North Anna Nuclear Generating Station has shutdown automatically due to the magnitude 5.9 earthquake with its epicenter at Mineral, Virginia. The nuclear power plant is located about 10 miles Northeast of the epicenter of the quake and is running on backup diesel generators (presumably after losing external power!) per CNBC host Mandy Drury. Dominion Resources stock took a hit after the quake, which CNBC host Brian Sullivan mulls over. Was it a pre-packaged black box algorithm? I have parsed together some video clips of the CNBC coverage with the relevant sound bytes related to the nuclear plant.
Click here for USGS Report.
Map
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For addition general earthquake footage:
Click here for USGS Report.
Map
View Live Ustream Radiation Detectors in a larger map
For addition general earthquake footage:
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