How Safe is the Catawba Nuclear Plant
Excerpt from article published in the Rock Hill Herald. Drills, inspections and emergency plans aim to protect the public. During an emergency, the county will also provide transportation and other services for residents with special needs. 2011.
Catawba Nuclear Station on Lake Wylie
The Catawba Nuclear Station, which came online in 1985, provides more than 2,000 megawatts of electricity to residents. A maze of steel-reinforced concrete, the plant was designed to withstand tornados, floods, and earthquakes that register more than 7.3 on the Richter scale. That was the size of Charleston's 1886 earthquake. But Howell said a lot of the standards used to design nuclear plants to withstand earthquakes are based on theory. The Japanese earthquake will provide more data to evaluate those standards. In addition to numerous automatic emergency shut-down features, the plant has diesel generators that can pump water from the Catawba to cool reactors in the event of a loss of power. Among the nation's 104 plants, Catawba ranks 22nd in risk of damage from an earthquake, with a 1 in 27,027 chance each year, according to a report by MSNBC.
Jamie Self 803-329-4062
Read more: http://www.heraldonline.com/2011/03/27/2940696_p2/how-safe-is-the-catawba-nuclear.html#ixzz1HvJQEiDc
