North Anna Power Station: Two Nuclear Reactors Taken Off Line After Virginia Earthquake

RICHMOND, Va. — Federal officials say two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station in Louisa County, Va., were automatically taken off line by safety systems around the time of the earthquake.

The Dominion-operated power plant is being run off three emergency diesel generators, which are supplying power for critical safety equipment. The NRC and Dominion are sending people to inspect the plant.

A fourth diesel generator failed, but it wasn't considered an emergency because the other generators are working, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Dominion said it declared an alert at the North Anna facility and the reactors have been shut down safely and no major damage has been reported.

The earthquake was felt at the company's other Virginia nuclear power station, Surry Power Station in southeast Virginia, but not as strongly there. Both units at that power station continue to operate safely, Dominion said.

The quake also caused Dominion's newest non-nuclear power station, Bear Garden in Buckingham County, to shut down automatically.

NRC spokesman Roger Hannah says the agency was not immediately aware of any damage at nuclear power plants in the southeast.

Hannah said he knew of no other shut reactor but that unusual events were reported at a dozen other plant sites.

Louisa County is about 40 miles northwest of Richmond.

Comments

[Kenz300]

12:42 PM on 09/03/2011

People and technology do FAIL.

I hope we learn something from the disaster in Japan.

[Joffan]

05:05 PM on 08/24/2011

North Anna is no longer at any level of emergency status - the Unusual Event status has been ended.
http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov/2011/08/24/nrc-inspectors-keep-their-eyes-on-north-anna-nuclear-power-plant/

[Silken17]

07:20 PM on 08/24/2011

I was never worried.

[RunningBecky]

04:42 PM on 08/24/2011

Why I think ShamsT does not know anything about the subject he claims to be an expert in. Here is a quote from a post he sent me yesterday....

" Why do you think they design the plant with backup to backup to backup? That's part of the design considerations. If one fails, there's a backup to take it's place. If the backup fails, there's another backup to take it's place and so on... How likely is it that all of these would fail? Not very likely."

See? Spin to decieve the unenlightened. FOUR power plants means it's guarenteed to be safe because all four isn't likely to fail at the same time. Yea. Right. Except there were TWO reactors and thus only TWO emergency generators per reactor. In one of those reactors, one of the generators failed and we were down to our LAST chance to stop a crisis as they had lost external power. Now they do have batteries that would have bought them a little time, but only a little.
So you see how they decieve? He told the truth. There WERE four reactors indeed. He forgot to include that they meant only two per reactor. Was that intentional or does he simply not know what he's talking about? Inquiring minds want to know.
Huggs Becky

[CountLeo]

05:27 PM on 08/24/2011

Hi Becky - I don't see the deception? I think he makes a good point about redundant saftey measures.

[RunningBecky]

05:39 PM on 08/24/2011

The falsity was he was claiming that there were FOUR generators protecting the plant...."backup to backup to backup" as he claimed. In implied that up to three generators could fail and they would still be safe. But that was totally false because, in fact, there were two reactors and each reactor had TWO generators. So there were only TWO generators per reactor, not four as he implied, so if one failed, as happened, they were down to their last generator with NO more backup. That was not the kind of redundancy that he was trying to claim. It was lying with facts because technically there WERE four generators but they were not redundancies as he implied.
Huggs Becky

[willr]

05:57 PM on 08/24/2011

North Anna has two PWR reactors. Each reactor has two emergency diesel generators. One generator is the primary, the second is the backup. Each reactor only needs one generator during a loss of site power. There is a fifth generator that acts as a backup to any of the four generators. Additionally, the back up systems can be cross connected if needed.

So no spin. It is called defense-in-depth design.

Additionally mobile generators could have been moved in if needed.

[Michael Mann]

02:06 PM on 08/24/2011

The strongest earthquake in 100 years and all the nuclear power plants affected are safe.
1. The plants were designed to withstand the earthquake and a loss of offsite power (LOOP).
2. Emergency plans were in place to deal with both, operators regularly practice dealing with such events in high-tech simulators and plants as a whole do regular emergency drills.
3. All critical safety systems functioned as expected.
4. No one panicked and the emergency plan was initiated immediately as highly trained and qualified personnel first ensured the plants were in a safe condition.
5. The NRC was notified immediately and onsite inspectors were there to monitor developments.
6. The earthquake and LOOP caused no radioactive releases
7. The plants which were shut down must pass thorough inspections before being allowed to restart.
8. It's a shame other critical infrastructure isn't designed or operated to fare as well as North Anna and the rest of the nuclear power plants which experienced this earthquake.
9. No one got hurt.

[RunningBecky]

04:45 PM on 08/24/2011

Your kind of like Shamus, aren't you? Very careful with the facts. Yes it WAS the strongest earthquake in 100 years but what your ignoring is that it was the strongest earthquake in VIRGINIA in 100 years. A state that does get earthquakes but their very rare indeed. The fact your ignoring is that is was STILL only a 5.8. On the westcoast they kind of laugh at 5.8's.

So the fact that a reactor can survive a 5.8 earthquake is not exactly reassuring.
Huggs Becky

[Joffan]

05:03 PM on 08/24/2011

It reassures me. Determining what size of earthquake any particular plant has to survive is an assessment of local conditions. West coast nuclear power plants have to be able to survive the larger quakes over there. That's the requirement to get a licence.

[willr]

06:30 PM on 08/24/2011

Reactor complexes are designed for the local seismic conditions, not the worst seismic conditions in the US. That would be impossible since geological conditions across the US vary significantly from a civil and mechanical engineering design standpoint.

As has been discussed, the quake in VA affected areas hundreds of miles away, not directly on the fault line due to the hard rock conditions in that area of the East Coast. Quakes in the West Coast generally affect those around the fault line, not hundreds of miles away from the fault line. An earthquake in LA generally does not cause damage in San Diego for example but a quake in VA affected DC and downtown NY.

Geologically speaking, the Appalachians are an old mountain range whereas the ranges in the West Coast are relatively younger.

So different seismic conditions means different seismic designs, not a one design fits all mindset.

[Joffan]

01:23 PM on 08/24/2011

North Anna has stepped down its emergency status from Alert to Unusual Event.
=============
Dominion ended the Alert at its North Anna Power Station near Mineral, Va., at 11:16 a.m. today after starting a reactor cooling pump for each of the two units. The reactors were cooled by natural circulation and emergency pumps while the reactor coolant pumps were not operating.

The station remains in a Notification of Unusual Event (NOUE), the least serious of four Nuclear Regulatory Commission emergency classifications, while the reactor cool-down and inspections of plant equipment and systems continues.
=============
http://dom.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1016

(I believe offsite power is required to run the main coolant pumps, which are also the operational circulation for electricity generation - the diesels can only run the auxiliary pumps)

[SLS11]

12:27 PM on 08/24/2011

It appears that North Anna is out of the woods. Good! Glad to hear that. No disasters needed.

Power restored to nuclear plant after quake

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Two nuclear reactors at the North Anna power plant outside Richmond, Va. regained offsite power Wednesday after losing it as the result of the earthquake Tuesday, the plant's owner Dominion Virginia Power told CNN.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/24/news/economy/earthquake_nuclear/

[NoMoreNukes2012]

12:58 PM on 08/24/2011

Hope to god no big aftershocks. Thanks for that news SLS.
Look at what I just found. Amazing video

Virginia quake seismic waves march across the US
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IKE7MLNdtcg
The ripple effects across the country...blows me away.

[NoMoreNukes2012]

11:16 AM on 08/24/2011

Peak Ground Acceleration
Check out this USGS map of peak ground acceleration – what Nuke sites are supposed to actually design for. I see it was 0.5g or 50% of gravity or half a g acceleration at its core.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/shakemap/global/shake/082311a/#Peak_Ground_Acceleration

What does the reactor complex design spec called for?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303795304576453842076898316.html

Get out your Geiger Counters folks.

[NoMoreNukes2012]

10:33 AM on 08/24/2011

Still Active
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/23/earthquake-new-york-city-nyc_n_934241.html#101_a-number-of-infrastructure-trouble-spots-in-virginia

[NoMoreNukes2012]

10:30 AM on 08/24/2011

H uffPost's Tom Zeller reports:
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/home/2011/8/23/does-lake-anna-north-anna-nuclear-power-plants-cooling-water.html
'The American Society for Civil Engineers’ most recent “report card” on national infrastructure lists a number of trouble spots in Virginia -- including 143 “high-hazard” dams, one of which sits on Lake Anna near the North Anna nuclear power plant.

“A high hazard dam is defined as a dam whose failure would cause a loss of life and significant property damage,” the group notes on its website.'

The Virginia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers reported in its "2009 Virginia Infrastructure Report Card" that Virginia's dams get a "D minus," tied with roads for its lowest grade for any infrastructure in Virginia.

[NoMoreNukes2012]

10:28 AM on 08/24/2011

Beyond Nuclear's Reactor Oversight Project director, Paul Gunter, was quoted by Reuters regarding the earthquake epi-centered very close to the North Anna nuclear power plant in Mineral, VA:
http://www.beyondnuclear.org/home/2011/8/24/paul-gunter-quoted-in-reuters-coverage-of-north-anna-earthqu.html
"Nuclear power plants lose a significant margin of safety when they're forced to rely on these emergency back-up systems,' said Paul Gunter, director of reactor oversight at Beyond Nuclear, an anti-nuclear lobby group."

[jpneenan]

11:30 PM on 08/24/2011

What do you expect an antinuke lobbyist to say?
Did you expect him to be unbiased?
By the way, I found no credentials for this guy on google.
I only found one Dr. Paul Guntner - a psychologist in Tennessee
As apparently self-annointed "director of reactor oversight" I would have expected to
see some credentials such as a nuclear engineering degree? Wouldn't you?

[NoMoreNukes2012]

10:17 AM on 08/24/2011

I was just thinking...where's OUR WEB CAM on North Anna Power Station?!?!?
Even the Tepco in Fukashima has 2 going 24/7!

At this angle, it's looking rather Smoky right now...
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/f1-np/camera/index-j.html
This Cam doesn't show the Reactors til later on in the day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gELpXbIbtPc&feature=player_embedded

[mdinoregon]

09:27 AM on 08/24/2011

The Big Question: What is the Best We Can Hope for in 12 Months' Time?
By Renewable Energy World Network Editors
August 24, 2011
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/08/the-big-question-what-is-the-best-we-can-hope-for-in-12-months-time

Balanced article with interviews from key people in the energy industry. Worth a few minutes.

[NoMoreNukes2012]

09:41 AM on 08/24/2011

Very good article!! All sides presented. I'll "highlight" a small part that interested ME:

"The best thing that can realistically happen in the next year is that energy issues are given the attention they deserve, that a scientific breakthrough in renewables such as the new solar cells catches world attention.

The worst thing that can happen is that another scandal feeds the sceptics, or that renewable energy slips further from view due to more world political or financial events."

Truly, I can't see that happening after Fukushima and now the East Coast. Virginia and all the others are: Too Close To HOME. If that doesn't Wake People Up, nothing will.
Thanks Md! FAVED!!

[NoMoreNukes2012]

09:26 AM on 08/24/2011

Greg Palast:
"Back in the day, when we checked the emergency back-up diesels in America, a mind-blowi­ng number flunked. At the New York nuke, for example, the builders swore under oath that their three diesel engines were ready for an emergency. They'd been tested. The tests were faked, the diesels run for just a short time at low speed. When the diesels were put through a real test under emergency-­like conditions­, the crankshaft on the first one snapped in about an hour, then the second and third. We nicknamed the diesels, "Snap, Crackle and Pop.""
http://www.gregpalast.com/no-bs-info-on-japan-nuclearobama-invites-tokyo-electric-to-build-us-nukes-with-taxpayer-funds/

Btw in case you didn't know:

"We are in the midst of a full-blown investigation of the nuclear industry which, despite Fukushima, is rising from the crypt, resurrected by billions of dollars in government guarantees. You think the Fukushima disaster was just a Japanese affair? We have the stone-cold evidence that earthquake testing at US plants has been faked. There's more. We have four nervous whistleblowers ready to tell their horror stories.

That makes "them" nervous too.

[NoMoreNukes2012]

09:18 AM on 08/24/2011

Beautiful and certainly not dangerous like Nuclear Power:

Neptune Wind is planning to develop, construct and operate a 500MW offshore wind farm in federal waters south of the US state of Massachusetts.

The utility scale power project, called Nomans Wind, will be located about 20 nautical miles south of the Massachusetts/Rhode Island border.

The company said it will submit a nomination for Nomans Wind’s proposed lease area by 3 October 2011 deadline established by the US Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.

http://enformable.com/2011/08/neptune-wind-plans-to-build-500mw-offshore-wind-farm-in-u-s/

[NoMoreNukes2012]

09:05 AM on 08/24/2011

Twelve nuclear plants declared an “unusual event,” the lowest level of emergency, after Tuesday’s earthquake, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said. Virginia’s North Anna Power Station, about 13 miles from the epicenter, issued an alert, the next highest emergency level. The quake was centered 40 miles northwest of Richmond.

Two nuclear reactors at North Anna were automatically taken off line by safety systems. No damage was reported at the plant, which is being powered by emergency diesel generators.

The quake was also felt at the Surry nuclear plant near Newport News, Va.

Besides Surry, the other plants declaring an unusual event were the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in Maryland; Peach Bottom, Three Mile Island, Susquehanna and Limerick plants in Pennsylvania; Salem, Hope Creek and Oyster Creek in New Jersey, Shearon Harris in North Carolina; and D.C. Cook and Palisades in Michigan. All were placed under increased scrutiny but continued to operate.

http://enformable.com/2011/08/east-coast-earthquake-prompts-safety-alerts-at-12-nuclear-plants-from-nc-to-michigan/

Fukashima's waiting to happen.