U.S. Lays Out Requirements to Reopen Nuclear Power Plant in Central Virginia

[n2doc]

By Ayesha Rascoe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. nuclear regulator said on Friday it has sent a letter to Dominion Resources laying out the requirements for the restart of the company's quake-rattled North Anna nuclear plant.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Dominion will have to submit paperwork responding to the commission's questions about the safety of restarting the plant.

Reactors at the North Anna station in Virginia have been shut down since a 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook the east coast of the United States in late August. It was the first time an operating U.S. nuclear plant experienced an earthquake that exceeded its design parameters, meaning the ground motion from the quake was stronger than the plant was built to withstand.

"The NRC's directive will remain in effect until the NRC is satisfied Dominion has demonstrated the plant is safe to operate," the commission said in a statement.


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http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=us-lays-out-requirements

[kristopher]

1. Perhaps those who support nuclear power could answer two questions

Aside from the obvious safety issues involved in actually, realistically inspecting a system as complex as a nuclear power plant after an event like this, it demonstrates well the intermittent, unreliable nature of nuclear power plants generally.

Perhaps those who support nuclear power could answer two questions for me:

Where did they get the power to replace what was lost when this plant shut down without warning?

How does the answer to that question impact the claims of nuclear proponents that the variability of some renewable sources means that we cannot build and operate a 100% renewable grid?

[Throckmorton]

2. First one is easy,

Dominion burned more natural gas, they have about 2200 MW's of Natural gas combustion turbines in cold standby/peaking service around the system. They also fired up about 900 MWs of coal fire generation is cold standby.

I haven't clue about the second question.

The bigger question is "Why did North Anna Unit 1 trip on a negative neutron flux rate before the Loss of Offsite Power occured."