By Roberta Rampton Reuters – 1 hr 7 mins ago: September 8, 2011 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Last month's record earthquake in the eastern United States may have shaken a Dominion Resources nuclear plant twice as hard it was designed to withstand, a spokesman for the U.S. nuclear safety regulator said on Thursday.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has not yet found signs of serious damage to safety systems at the North Anna nuclear plant in Virginia, the first operating plant in the country to experience an earthquake exceeding its "design basis."
But the milestone, contained in preliminary data from the U.S. Geological Survey, shows the need for the nation's 104 aging reactors to reevaluate earthquake risks using up-to-date geological information, said Majid Manzari, an engineer at George Washington University who studies quake impacts.
"The implications of exceedance could be disastrous," Manzari said. "I would say these studies have to be done as soon as possible."
Lucky this time !Ak Malten, Pro Peaceful Energy Use
Quake shook U.S. plant twice as hard as design allowed
No comments:
Post a Comment