An “unusual event” indeed. The 4.0
magnitude earthquake that rumbled across the Seacoast and beyond Tuesday
evening triggered normal safety protocols at the Seabrook Station
nuclear power plant.
The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission declared an “unusual event” — NRC-speak for the lowest of its
four levels of emergency classifications — at 7:20 p.m. Tuesday. The
declaration was prompted by on-site ground motion resulting from an
earthquake centered near Hollis, Maine — about 50 miles from the plant.
“There was absolutely no impact to the plant
from the earthquake,” said Al Griffith, spokesman for NextEra Energy,
the plant’s owner. Griffith said a series of mandated safety checks were
conducted at the plant, concluding at 1:49 a.m., some six and a half
hours after the tremor.
Citing the
“robustness” of the plant’s design, Griffith assured that it is capable
of withstanding a far, far greater impact than Tuesday’s quake.
There
are seismic monitors on site and Griffith said officials will be
conducting “a very thorough examination and analysis of all of our
data.”
An NRC resident inspector assigned to
Seabrook responded to the site last night to confirm that there were no
immediate safety issues at the plant, which is currently shut down for a
scheduled refueling and maintenance outage.
“The reactor was fully shut down at the time the earthquake occurred,” said Neil Sheehan, regional public officer for the NRC.
“Following
procedures used when there is seismic activity affecting the plant,
NextEra personnel conducted initial walkdowns, i.e., visual inspections,
and confirmed that all key safety systems were functioning properly and
that there was no significant structural damage,” Sheehan said in a
statement. “The company will subsequently gather more seismic data and
perform more detailed inspections.”
Asked
about the need to be vigilant in preparing for and reacting to any
seismic activity, particularly in the wake of the March 2011 disaster
following an earthquake and tsunami at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant
in Japan, Sheehan said, “What happened at Fukushima served as a vivid
reminder” of why the highest safety protocols are put in place and
enforced.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
note:
Last Year, it was reported on June 2nd 2011, that the concrete surrounding an electric tunnel at the SeaBrook Nuclear Plant was weakened by groundwater. It was also found that areas of the steel supports, base plates, anchor bolts, and piping were corroded, yet it was said, "All of our buildings meet safety requirements; they exceed safety requirements."
The weakened concrete was first discovered in the summer of 2010, and this was reported to the NRC as part of its renewal application when it's current license expires. Seabrook's current license expires in 2030...
