Nuke safety24 U.S. nuclear plants vulnerable to earthquakes
The U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has concluded that the designs of twenty-four U.S. nuclear plants do not meet contemporary standards to withstand an earthquake in the vicinity of the facility. This analysis has revealed that these facilities could face significant, even disastrous, damage from earthquakes which are larger than what they were designed to encounter.
Map shows location of nuclear plants // Source: utome.asia
The U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has concluded that the designs of twenty-four U.S. nuclear plants do not meet contemporary standards to withstand an earthquake in the vicinity of the facility.
The Foster’s Daily Democrat reports that after assessing the 2011 damage to the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Fukushima, Japan from a sea-based quake, the NRC “asked all U.S. plant operators to re-evaluate the seismic hazards their facilities could face.”
This analysis has revealed that these facilities could face significant, even disastrous, damage from earthquakes which are larger than what they were designed to encounter.
NRC public information officer Neil Sheehan released a statement which read, “The re-evaltuations examine whether each plant could experience higher ground motions that earlier projected. If that is the case, the plant will be considered to have ‘screen in’ for further detailed seismic hazard analysis.”
Sheehan also announced that “the NRC will require interim measures at the designated plants to be done by the end of 2014. (The work involved is) expected to take at least three years to compete and will be used to determine if upgrades are needed to plant equipment, systems and structures.”
Of particular focus are the plants which operate in the densely populated areas of northeastern United States. These include Seabrook Station and Pilgrim Station in Massachusetts, Indian Point facilities in New York, and Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.
Massachusetts Senators Ed Markey (D) and Elizabeth Warren (D), in a joint letter to the NRC, asked the agency to take immediate action. They wrote, “We were alarmed to discover that of the dozens of reactors that reassessed their vulnerability to earthquakes in the wake of the Fukushima meltdowns, the newly evaluated seismic risk at both Pilgrim and Seabrook is larger than the risk the reactors were originally licensed to withstand.”
In stations such as Seabrook, the evaluations will be part of an additional effort to extend the plant’s operating licensing to 2050.
