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North Anna Power Plant

August 23, 2011 by · Comments Off on North Anna Power Plant 

North Anna Power PlantNorth Anna Power Plant, Dominion Resources Inc. lost all power plants off its North Anna nuclear power plant in Virginia and began using diesel emergency generators after an earthquake of 5.9 magnitude shook the neighborhood.

One of the four diesel generators stopped working after the start, David McIntyre, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said in an e-mail today. There were no reports of damage to the plant, said. North Anna is 7 miles (11 kilometers) from the epicenter of the earthquake in Mineral, Virginia, according to Bloomberg data.

The earthquake was felt in Richmond, Va., to Toronto and west to Columbus, Ohio. Eight nuclear power stations in Region 1, which stretches from Maryland to Maine, said that “unusual events”, the lowest of four emergency designations classified by the commission, said Beth Hayden, a spokesman for the nuclear agency.

“I suspect we’ll see other plants declared unusual events,” Hayden said in a telephone interview.

The U.S. nuclear plants batteries are required to have a plant capable of powering four hours and diesel generators protected by a hardened structure. Power is needed to keep fresh fuel in place, preventing a crisis and a radioactive release.

Fukushima Japan reactors lost offsite power after a magnitude 9 earthquake in March. The tsunami followed the earthquake wiped out its diesel generators, leading to a crisis, the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

Cool the core

“The energy needed to cool reactor cores of spent fuel and operational,” said Chris Gadomski, a nuclear analyst at New Energy Finance Bloomberg said in an e-mail. “If we lose backup diesel generators at North Anna, you have a situation similar to that of Fukushima development there. Virginia Power should try to restore offsite power as soon as possible.”

They are not emergency workers were evacuated from North Anna, Amanda said Reidelbach, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office Louisa County.

Constellation Energy Group Inc. declares an unusual event in the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in Maryland, about 45 miles east of Washington. Both units continued to operate, according to an email from Mark Sullivan, spokesman for the company.

PPL Corp. also reported an unusual event at its Susquehanna reactor in Pennsylvania. Unit 1 is operating at full power and performance 2 total unit production is being delayed “as a precaution,” a company statement.

The Indian Point nuclear power plant located outside of New York, is operating normally, said Jerry Nappi, a spokesman for the plant owner Entergy Corp.

– With the help of Zachary Mider in Chicago, Aaron and Christine Clark in New York Buurman, Mike Lee in Dallas and Brian Wingfield and Richard Heidorn in Washington. Editors: Tina Davis, Jasmina Kelemen

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