Published: September 1st, 2011 at 4:10 pm ET
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Inspectors check Virginia nuclear plant for earthquake damage, Washington Post by Brian Vastag, August 31, 2011:
Inspectors dispatched by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission arrived at Virginia’s North Anna nuclear power plant Tuesday on a three-week mission to assess any damage caused by last week’s earthquake [...]
The inspection is unusual, said Scott Burnell, a spokesman for NRC. Such “augmented inspection teams” are dispatched to nuclear plants “infrequently. If I had to put a number on it I’d say once every couple of years.” [...]
[Richard Zuercher, a Dominion spokesman] would not provide the amount of shaking revealed by the preliminary analysis. “We want to know for sure what we have,” he said, adding that Dominion would make available a fuller analysis of the shaking by the end of the week. [...]
Nuclear Safety: U.S. ‘Near-Misses’ in 2010, Time.com by Eben Harrell, March 17, 2011:
[...] First, a note on how the reactor oversight process works in the U.S.: When an event occurs at a reactor, or when NRC inspectors discover damage or degraded equipment, the NRC undertakes a review of the risk to the reactor. The NRC undertook 200 such reviews in 2010, the UCS report states. When an event or condition increases the chance of reactor core damage by a factor of 10, then the NRC sends out a “Special Inspection Team” (SIT). When the risk rises by 100, the agency dispatches an “Augmented Inspection Team“. And when the risk increases by 1000 or more, the NRC sends out an “Incident Inspection Team.” [...]
Footage of the quake from inside a Virginia school:
Published: September 1st, 2011 at 4:10 pm ET
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sending...
The NRC and Nuclear Power Plant Safety in 2010
Union of Concerned Scientists
Citizens and Scientists for Environmental Solutions
“The chances of a disaster at a nuclear plant are low. When the NRC finds
safety problems and ensures that owners address them—as happened last
year at Oconee, Browns Ferry, and Kewaunee—it keeps the risk posed by
nuclear power to workers and the public as low as practical. But when the
NRC tolerates unresolved safety problems—as it did last year at Peach
Bottom, Indian Point, and Vermont Yankee—this lax oversight allows that
risk to rise. The more owners sweep safety problems under the rug and the
longer safety problems remain uncorrected, the higher the risk climbs.
While none of the safety problems in 2010 caused harm to plant
employees or the public, their frequency—more than one per month—is high
for a mature industry. The severe accidents at Three Mile Island in 1979 and
Chernobyl in 1986 occurred when a handful of known problems—aggravated
by a few worker miscues—transformed fairly routine events into
catastrophes. That plant owners could have avoided nearly all 14 near-misses
in 2010 had they corrected known deficiencies in a timely manner suggests
that our luck at nuclear roulette may someday run out….
“Most safety-related incidents and discoveries at nuclear power plants are
low risk. However, when an event or condition increases the chance of reactor
core damage by a factor of 10, the NRC is likely to send out a special inspection
team (SIT). When the risk rises by a factor of 100, the agency may
dispatch an augmented inspection team (AIT). And when the risk increases
by a factor of 1,000 or more, the NRC may send an incident inspection team
(IIT). The teams go to the sites to investigate what happened, why it happened,
and any safety implications for other nuclear plants. These teams take
many weeks to conduct an investigation, evaluate the information they gather,
and document their findings in a report, which they usually make public.
Both routine inspections and those of the special teams identify violations
of NRC regulations. The NRC classifies these violations into five categories,
with Red denoting the most serious, followed by Yellow, White,
Green, and Non-Cited Violations (NCVs).”
http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/nuclear_power/nrc-2010-full-report.pdf
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Anne,Thanks for the info. So when things are really bad they send out the IIT patrol. I hope AIT is not too bias. When are they expected to inspect North Anna? I’m sure it’s in the report, I’ll look again. Thanks again.
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Magnitude 3.4
Date-Time
Thursday, September 01, 2011 at 09:09:38 UTC
Thursday, September 01, 2011 at 05:09:38 AM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 37.951°N, 77.927°W
Depth 3.5 km (2.2 miles)
Region VIRGINIA
Distances 50 km (31 miles) SW of Fredericksburg, Virginia
52 km (32 miles) E of Charlottesville, Virginia
58 km (36 miles) NW of RICHMOND, Virginia
85 km (52 miles) NNE of Farmville, Virginia
Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 0.4 km (0.2 miles); depth +/- 0.3 km (0.2 miles)
Someone, Chas Aha, I think, posted the EVENT notification at N. Anna NPP
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and at 10000 times, the send the public relations team to cover up the danger, or where they there already?
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bmurr GREAT CALL
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So ATI was sent to review damage. And any damage from nuclear–not to worry. Each Nuclear Plant has 330 Million in coverage, if larger than that, the government covers the damage. Just like for the BP Oil Spill. Wish that would give a warm and fuzzy feeling, but it doesnot. Damage coverage by a private company should be higher than the 330M listed. Times have changed in 40 yrs. Hope someone else can prove the amounts are incorrect, and they have been raised. And also, would be good to know what documentation is needed to file a complaint–since we personally live within 9 miles of one of these plants.
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Dear jec: Agreed. No warm fuzzy feeling here either. The only ones that seem to have the good kind of warm fuzzies are the billionaires laughing that we aren’t cutting their throats with the requisite guillotines that such events demand as a rational, reasonable response.
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Missed the point maybe- Nuke power is so dangerous that TAXPAYERS (GOV) are on the hook after a few million! Nuke power is on the hook for the DEDUCTIBLE ONLY how sweet for them–IF u want to no how truly Fd up this is ask them why they dont get full coverage themselves? Bucuz no Insurance Company in the WORLD will insure them! What should that be telling U??
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[See Link Below]
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Sorry, didn’t mean to post the whole thing.
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http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_power/
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This was forwarded to me by a trusted friend from another trusted friend who spoke with someone whose neighbor’s daughter works at North Anna, the nuclear plant in Virginia, not far from last week’s earthquake.
No, that’s not three confirmed sources, but I am writing a book, working jobs, and organizing a conference. Take the following for what it’s worth, and please do the reporting.
“During the quake the administration building buckled. White steam began pouring our of the stacks. There is chaos at the power station. __________ said that two NY Times reporters are investigating – ________ and ____________. He wants to get a Geiger counter and take readings near the plant. He also said that when they were first building the plant some W & M professors told them it was not safe to build it on the fault. I will let you know what else I hear.”
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Was that school in Virginia made out of tissue paper?
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They will shut down the schools for a month in Virginia over just a few inches of snow… My friend who taught school in both IL and VA can’t believe how easily they close schools here.
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Getting a little too close to D.C. I think makes for a different response… What is the mileage? Not the same as 8,000 miles from Fukuville.
On iPhone and I’m at hospital again with wife… Bad and “unexplained” by tests chest pains. Been this way for several months and the haze to the west in the sky has been bad for three days, big dust storm yesterday and another today.
I see you guys have been busy… Here’s a classic Cary Grant joke: “Insanity runs in my family… it practically gallops.”
Keep the faith.
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I’m sorry to hear about your wife SP. My hugs and best wishes to her!!
i’m so p**sed! Take a few hours off and come back to THIS?!?!?
LORD/GOD help us!! They know not what they do!!
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It will be OK… The bad part is people in America can rarely get any legitimate pain relief medication because the docs are all scared of Big Brother. One advantage for people living in “less civilized” countries. Patients suffer in America unless their doc is a family member.
As Jack Nicholson said in Easy Rider: “You know, this used to be a helluva good country. I can’t understand what’s gone wrong with it.”
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Chronic Pain here. So I hear ya.
I want to move to Venezuela and live in the Trees with the monkeys. Oh and O’s Health Care Bill: SCREW THAT! Did nothing for ANYBODY.
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Sickputer, Best wishes for your wife, I hope that she feels better. Sorry about the dust and worry.
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I built this site some of you know about to help with Fukushima updates. It is 1 month old.
http://australiancannonball.com/
Can you please email to friends and family. I’ve never built a website before and it’s hard in the early stages to get people to even know it exists. Google does not exactly prioritise news about Fukushima. I have between 200 and 500 visitors a day. Normally its closer to 250. I appreciate every single person who does come to the site but I’m feeling like I want to get this stuff out there even further. I mean millions of people should care about this situation.
I could chug away for many months and not ask for help but I’m going to humble myself and ask. I have a 1 and a 2 year old plus work full time so I only provide basic updates. Stuff you can find on YouTube or searching Google. The main benefit is getting it into one area to save others searching.
The good news is we still have enenews that seems very busy so the word is still getting out. And to be fair enenews has been covering this since March so if I think I’m tired I wonder how they feel!
We could be at this for 10 years!
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And if you do help me out maybe tell them to put it in their favorites. I am the first to admit using my Youtube name for a website about Fukushima maybe wasn’t the brightest idea. It doesn’t exactly scream “Fukushima updates” at you.
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I visited, Cannonball….
Was going to respond to one of the stories,
but I guess WordPress wants unique log-ins
for each page they host?
Keep up the great work, love the graphic
of the cesium-plume.
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I have thought about that issue. Do I just let people post without registering. enenews started out like that and changed. Actually because they changed when I started my site I thought they must of had a very good reason so I made it so people have to register. My site is not hosted by wordpress. I just use there interface. Its hosted on a server in the USA with my own money. There is a difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org
It can be confusing.
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Good site!!–thanks. Are you getting any radiation readings in Australia lately? I have an invitation to visit, but worried about flying over the Pacific…
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We had xenon-133 detected which is a noble gas. That went around the whole planet. The only way we would get Cesium is from the ocean oneday.
We have slight levels from bomb testing like any country which is still a worry but that is the world we live in.
Flying over the Pacific – Yes it’s quite amazing. I’ve only flown as far as Tahiti in that direction and Europe in the other. So I’ve been over half the Pacific. Yes it’s a daunting thought but if a plane crashes unfortunately you will die over the Pacific or over land. Just fly Qantas! – It gets a mention from Dustin Hoffman in Rainman.
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Thanks–I was going to email you personally on your site. Great info and tone on your site!
Quantas–I like their kangaroo logo! I’d love to visit my friends there…and it may be more timely now! They seem to think so-ha!
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@alasanon – Just make sure you hire a car. Sydney and Melbourne(My birthplace and where I grew up) have great public transport.
Most of the other capitals are lacking in public transport. You would still get anywhere you need to go but not as efficient as Melbourne or Sydney. I moved to Brisbane 3 years ago and I took a step back in time! – But to be honest its warmer weather and more natural here. Also I have always had a car.
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@Australiancannonball
http://realitycheck.no-ip.info/nnn.html
See chat area..left side …i posted your link about the infanticide of children with birth defects in Japan.
Please feel free to post there…..
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@Heart of the Rose
Thanks. I did notice I got a very high response to that. I can always see the referring URL so I can tell if people have posted any links to my site in other locations. That particular topic did travel around more than any other so it was probably because of you.
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@Heart of the Rose
I wonder how I can get my site listed as a new site on there?
Even though I work in IT this is my first attempt at a website. There is much I don’t know.
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@AustralianCannonball…I’m not sure..let me see.. if I can find out..
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@ AustralianCannonball,
Go to the site below and sign up a do some short stories on it in a catagory such as Japan Earthquakes or others that may work with you story, add a link to your homepage for the rest of the story, you build it they will come !
http://members.beforeitsnews.com
Good way to get traffic, post at other bloggs also, find News websites that have comment sections and post you homepage in comments as to what they can find related to the posting in the news !
The more you link post ur homepage the more hits you will get !
I f you don’t mind I will post links to ur site at sites I visit and I am sure others here will do the same when it is related, we don’t want it to appear as spamming !
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@xrdfox – I will look into that option about http://members.beforeitsnews.com/
Yeah it’s a fine line between trying to promote your site and spamming. Even on here I should only post links relevant to the title of the post. I may of crossed that line today. I’m just frustrated to be honest.
If you post some links to my site that will be much appreciated. But your right about not spamming.
I was actually thinking about the “field of dreams” movie when building my site. I could hear the whisper “if you build it they will come”
The main issue is the injustice in all this and I should not stray from my passion on this subject(Fukushima) to getting to caught up with the stats. I think it’s just normal when you build a site to want visitors.
I’ll keep learning. Even if oneday I get a million views a day I’m still going to visit here. Sort of a home away from home. I have never dropped in as much as I would like due to making the videos and now the website.
Thanks again for your advice.
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@AustralianCannonball.
Before Its News…is a great site…
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Don’t be dishearted, LOL Look at the hits I get:
http://members.beforeitsnews.com/stories/by/0000000000004882 …Not a nunch but some people want to see what is happening to our animals in our oceans, we’re next !
Here are some site that will give you some ways to get more hits too ! I will get more info to you later. Time for you to read up and make some new links !
http://selfpromotion.com/
http://webdevelopersjournal.com/articles/10_ways_not_to_promote_your_web_site.html
http://www.wilsonweb.com/articles/checklist.htm
http://www.youthedesigner.com/2007/10/01/25-ways-to-promote-your-website-or-blog/
http://www.howipromotemywebsite.com/
http://www.dailyblogtips.com/7-ways-to-promote-you
http://selfpromotion.com/r-site-with-a-bit-of-mon
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/60916ey/
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AustralianCannonball
Be as personable on your stories as you are here and you will get a following !
People will connect with you as here !
They will share you passion !
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@xdrfox @Heart of the Rose
Thanks for your comments and information. I will definitely look into this over the weekend. Your stats xdrfox look good to me. Some days it looks as if they went viral!
I just realised I must have dyslexia as I’ve been writing xrdfox and not xdrfox!
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Here is a good read on North Anna NPP…
http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML0219/ML021910060.pdf
It’s dated 6/02 and talks about the fault under the plant. Must read all…
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This is interesting from that PDF. Remember that the plant reportedly recieved a PGA of .5 or better, over half of one earth gravity. More than 1g and things are airborne…
2.5.2.3 Design Basis Earthquake
The North Anna Power Station Units 1 and 2 Preliminary Safety Analysis Report and design were completed prior to the promulgation of Appendix A to 10 CFR 100. Consequently, the term “design-basis earthquake,” as used in this report, has the meaning it had prior to December 1973 when Appendix A to 10 CFR 100 became effective.
The design basis earthquake (DBE) for the North Anna Power Station Units 1 and 2 was established by assuming that an earthquake equivalent to the largest shock associated with the Arvonia Syncline might occur close to the North Anna site area. With the epicenter of a shock similar to the 1875 MM I-VII moved to the vicinity of the site, it was estimated that the maximum horizontal ground acceleration at rock surface would be less than 0.12g.
Accordingly, the design basis earthquake for Seismic Class I structures founded on rock was established as 0.12g for horizontal ground motion, and two-thirds (0.08g) that value for vertical ground motion.
For Seismic Class I structures founded on rock, analyses for earthquake motion were made using response spectra developed by enveloping the response spectra, for various degrees of damping, of the east-west and north-south components of the Helena (1935) earthquake and the southeast component of the Golden Gate record of the San Francisco (1957) earthquake, all normalized to 0. 12g for the DBE. For Seismic Class I structures founded on saprolite more than 15 feet thick, these analyses for earthquake motion were normalized to 0.18g for the DBE to provide for calculated amplification through the overburden. The response spectra are shown on Figures 2.5-12 and 2.5-14 of the North Anna Power Station UFSAR.
Revision 3—06/02
2-29
Tr
Revision 3–06/02 North Anna ISFSI SAR 2-30
The amplification of earthquake motion through the overburden was computed using a lumped-mass spring system with model superposition.
Based on the two-to-three pulses of strong ground motion for the San Francisco, California (1957), and Helena, Montana (1935), earthquakes, a conservative estimate of strong ground motion pulses to be experienced at the North Anna site is four to five pulses of strong ground motion for the operating-basis earthquake and eight to ten pulses of strong ground motion for the design-basis earthquake.
The results of the regional seismicity and structural geologic update for this report have not provided any basis for modifying the original seismic design basis for the site. Additionally, continued seismic monitoring in the region surrounding the site over the last 20 years has not provided any basis to associate the minor seismicity of the region with either Lake Anna or the fault at the North Anna Power Station. The North Anna Power Station seismic design provides adequate conservatism for seismic Class I Structures at the North Anna Power Station.
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I wonder what the vertical g’s were…
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Every day I log onto this site, I find/see information that shows things were way worse than “officials” predict. It is all about $$$.
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and at 100000 times they don’t have to send anybody because there are no survivers…
5.8 isn’t really all that big.
“the NRC stated that each year the plant’s two reactors face a 1 in 22,727 chance of nuclear core damage from an earthquake.”
That sounds good on the surface but these kind of statistical probabilities aren’t really useful in accessing risk or modeling what happens in the real world. How many “we never thought that../it can’t happen” sorry statements have we heard in the last few years?
They can’t really call all these catastrophes black swans either. That assumes that the nuclear power plant or whatever it is is actually in pristine condition, well managed and well maintained so it can at least withstand the short-sighted design standards it was (supposedly) built to.
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Believe it or not…we’ve got one who is Anti-Nuclear arguing with ME on this thread!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/19/japan-earthquake-tsunami-warning-_n_931417.html
Maybe I’m missing IT’s point…but why argue with someone (me) who posts day in and day out FROM HERE TIL FOREVER? I’m going to BED. I’m pissed.
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Just wondering if the topic of (sheepies?) people who will not discuss Fukushima or say “what can you do about it, so who cares” which is a reply I received after posting a site which makes a plea to our representatives in office concerning our nuclear waste disposal… on Facebook. Thanks
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