…[This potential] threat came into sharp focus last week, when shaking from the largest earthquake to hit Virginia in 117 years appeared to exceed what the North Anna nuclear power plant northwest of Richmond was built to sustain.
The two North Anna reactors are among 27 in the eastern and central U.S. that a preliminary Nuclear Regulatory Commission review has said may need upgrades. That’s because those plants are more likely to get hit with an earthquake larger than the one their design was based on.
In South Carolina, SCE&G’s V.C. Summer nuclear plant, about 25 miles northwest of Columbia, is among the 27 facilities possibly needing upgrades to better withstand earthquakes, the NRC records show. So are three reactors operated by Duke Energy near Seneca.
The AP has been muckraking about nukes for a while now. Yes, plants need to be made as safe as reasonably possible. But the bottom line is we need nuclear power, nuclear power is a good thing, and nothing is risk free.
My understanding was that the plants in Virginia (which were located only a few miles from the epicenter) came through in very good shape.