Regulators Calls for Further Investigation at Earthquake-Affected Plant in Virginia
Aug. 29, 2011— -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is sending more inspectors to a Virginia nuclear power plant to further review what damage last week's 5.8 magnitude earthquake may have caused.
The NRC is sending the inspectors to the North Anna station near Louisa, Va., about 40 miles northwest from plant operator's Dominion's Richmond headquarters. The plant is less than six miles from the August 23 earthquake's epicenter in Mineral, Va.
The NRC stressed that the expanded investigation does not necessarily mean the plant is any less safe, but they have formed an Augmented Inspection Team to conduct the investigation.
According to the NRC, an AIT is formed by the NRC "to review more significant events or issues at NRC-licensed facilities." This is an additional investigation after the NRC initially sent a seismic expert and another structural expert, according to an NRC statement released Monday, to "assist the agency's resident inspectors on site."
The agency reported that "no significant damage to safety systems has been identified," but the plant's operator Dominion Power has reported to the NRC that "initial reviews determined the plant may have exceeded the ground motion for which it was designed."
The plant's two units were automatically shut down after the station lost offsite power following the earthquake and emergency diesel generators were used to cool the reactors until offsite power was brought back. In the release, the NRC said the investigation will "determine the precise level of shaking that was experienced at key locations within the North Anna facility."
The NRC requires that the plant not re-start "until it can demonstrate that no functional damage occurred to those features needed for continued safe operation."
Members of the surrounding communities should not worry and the plant remains in "cold shutdown," Roger Hannah, senior public affairs officer at the NRC, told ABC News.
"Based on all the information so far there doesn't appear to be any damage to major safety systems or systems that would prevent a radiological release," Hannah said. "What they are continuing to do is look at how severe the earthquake was and if it exceeded what the plant was designed for."
