As the situation at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant continues to deteriorate, fears concerning a similar crisis in the United States have ignited calls to halt nuclear power expansion across the country. In a recent press conference, however, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (R) reiterated his support for a third nuclear reactor at the North Anna Power Plant in Louisa County.
According to NBC 29, McDonnell described the North Anna Plant as “relatively safe from the threat of earthquakes and other natural disasters.” Yet the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ranked North Anna the seventh most likely plant in America to suffer core damage from an earthquake. That risk is up 38 percent from geological data studied in 1989.
McDonnell urges caution in going forward with construction of the third reactor, but still strongly supports the nuclear addition as part of his plan to make Virginia the energy capital of the East Coast. Dominion announced its plans for a third reactor at North Anna in late 2007, making Virginia the first state to construct a nuclear reactor in over a decade, reports the Washington Post.
In the case of a nuclear emergency at North Anna, Dominion claims, “it is likely that only a part of the area around the station would be affected,” and designates “protective action zones” as areas that fall within a 10-mile radius of the plant. Dominion’s projected 10-mile radius of radiation danger is slightly smaller than Japan’s warning of possible health hazards within 12.4 miles of the Fukushima plant. U.S. officials, however, have contradicted Japan’s estimate and urged all Americans to evacuate areas within 50 miles of Fukushima. According to that measurement, the effects of a nuclear emergency at North Anna could stretch from Charlottesville to Richmond.
