1 of 4 Backup Generators Cooling Nuclear Power Plant Shutdown By Virginia Quake Fails
There has been a series of unusual events at nuclear power plants across the nation from North Carolin to Virgina following today’s 5.9 earthquake that struck with an epicenter near Mineral, Virginia’s North Anna nuclear power plant.
The earthquake caused power outages at the North Anna plant which forced workers to shutdown the reactors and switch to emergency backup generator’s to cool the nuclear fuel rods at the reactor.
While the NRC supposedly tested and certified the safety and functionality at the nuclear plant following the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, the NRC is now reporting that one of the backup generators at the plant failed just moments after being started.
As reported earlier, the media initially ignored reporting on the status of the North Anna nuclear power plant near the epicenter of today’s Virgina earthquake.
After raising the question on why the media was being silent on the fate of the Anna Virginia nuclear reactors we learn the earthquake has taken 9 nuclear plants offline.
Read more at blog.alexanderhiggins.com
Soon after the media began reporting on the status of plant saying the plants electrical power had been cut-off and the spent fuel pools at the reactors were being cooled by power supplied by emergency backup generators at the nuclear plant.
Media Silent On Fate Of Anna Nuclear Plant At Epicenter Of 5.9 Mineral Virginia Earthquake
A massive 5.9 earthquake, the largest ever in recorded history, which has been felt across the U.S. from Colorado To Massachusetts, has an epicenter near Mineral Virginia’s Anna Nuclear Power Plant.
CNN is now reporting that, according the NRC, one of the four emergency generators providing electricity to cool the reactors has failed.
The generator failure even comes after the NRC reviewed them and said they were in ready working order following the nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear reactor in Japan.
Backup Generator Cooling Virginia Nuclear Plant Fails.
Virginia nuclear plant shut down by quake
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: One of four backup generators failed at the North Anna plant, the NRC says
- One nuclear plant shuts down; 11 others declare “unusual events” after quake
- The affected plants are scattered from North Carolina to Michigan
- A utility executive says there was no damage seen at Virginia’s North Anna plant
(CNN) — Tuesday’s Virginia earthquake triggered the shutdown of a nearby nuclear power plant and spurred declarations of “unusual events” at plants as far away as Michigan, U.S. authorities reported.
Dominion Virginia Power said both reactors at its North Anna plant, less than 20 miles from the epicenter of the magnitude-5.8 quake, shut down after the first tremors. Amanda Reidelbach, an emergency management spokeswoman for Louisa County, said the plant vented steam, but there was no release of radioactive material.
David Heacock, the utility’s chief nuclear officer, said the 1,800-megawatt plant was operating on emergency power and the two pressurized-water reactors were safely deactivated.
“The plants are designed for this kind of a seismic event,” Heacock said. “There is no apparent damage to anything at the plant right now.”
Crews were still working to restore off-site power to the plant Tuesday evening, the utility said. Heacock said the plant had four diesel generators supplying backup power and that those generators had three days of fuel.
One of those generators failed a few minutes after it kicked in, said Joey Ledford, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s regional office in Atlanta. But only one generator is required to supply power to each reactor unit, leaving another unit in reserve, Ledford said.
Alexander Higgins is an activist, independent journalists, and frequent Intel Hub Contributor. He writers on his own blog at blog.alexanderhiggins.com.
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