PLYMOUTH — The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station could be affected by earthquakes from as far away as 400 miles, according to the most recent seismic data, but owners say the plant can safely withstand the tremors based on its recent re-evaluation.
All owners of nuclear power plants in the eastern and central United States were required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to turn in their re-evaluations of earthquake-related hazards at their sites by the end of March.
"If the hazards have changed, plant owners and the NRC can use this and other information to determine if the facility's design or license needs to be modified to assure safe operation," NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said.
Joyce McMahon, spokeswoman for Entergy, Pilgrim's owner-operator, said the updated seismic data showed the Plymouth plant could be affected by larger earthquakes from a greater distance away: 400 miles rather than the previous estimate of 200 miles.
But the spokeswoman said the company was confident that "Pilgrim continues to have sufficient margin to withstand the worst seismic event anticipated, even based on the updated models."
Sheehan said his agency planned to have the reports from the various nuclear plants posted on its website, nrc.gov, early next week.
Meanwhile, federal regulators will begin their own evaluation of the submitted data "and make sure they're in compliance," he said.
The NRC issued a requirement in 2012 that nuclear power plant owners re-evaluate the seismic hazards at their sites based on the latest data produced by the U.S. Geological Survey and other agencies.
Sheehan said the NRC would prioritize the review of the re-evaluated plant hazards in the next 30 days.
"The agency will then perform an in-depth review of the most safety significant re-evaluated hazards first," Sheehan said. "As part of the review, the agency will consider whether additional regulatory action is appropriate."
The plants in the western part of the country were not part of this re-evaluation because they are in an area that is more seismically active, Sheehan said. "They'll have to do a more in-depth analysis."
No comments:
Post a Comment