Quake sensors removed from around Virginia nuke plant due to budget cuts

[Playinghardball]

Source: Raw Story
By David Edwards

A nuclear power plant that was shut down after an earthquake struck central Virginia Tuesday had seismographs removed in 1990s due to budget cuts.

U.S. nuclear officials said that the North Anna Power Station, which has two nuclear reactors, had lost offsite power and was using diesel generators to maintain cooling operations after an 5.9 earthquake hit the region.

The North Anna plant, which was near the epicenter of Tuesday's quake, is reportedly located on a fault line.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission rates the plant as the seventh most likely to receive core damage from a quake. But they say the chances of that are only 1 in 22,727.

More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/23/virginia-nuclear-plant-had-quake-sensors-removed-due-to-budget-cuts/

[uppityperson]

1. It's down to "meh" and "gosh darn it, that was a big one" ratings?

[originalpckelly]

2. PWRs are especially dangerous, because if there is a leak somehow...

in the vessel maintaining the pressure in the reactor, then the water cooling it will quickly boil off. The water is generally more than twice the temperature needed to boil. Now, on the other hand, that also means that it will be harder for the reaction to keep going, because the reactor is moderated using the same water that boils off. It's a safety mechanism.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. Because of "budget cuts"? Or, was it "profit margins"?

[PoliticAverse]

13. The sensors were installed/operated by the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. n/t

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. Guess they better put them back.

[ChandlerJr]

5. I wonder how the plant knew to automaticly scram

without earthquake sensors?

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. The software is designed to do that

and so far, it worked

[ChandlerJr]

8. So the software, absent any input from the removed sensors,

is designed to scram the reactors based on a WAG?

Now that's some really intelligent programming.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. They still have internal senseors

and I will leave it at that...

By the way... translation to the crowd, WAG= Wild Ass Guess

[ChandlerJr]

12. Thank you for translating for me

sometimes I don't communicate clearly.

[PoliticAverse]

14. The sensors that were removed were installed/operated by Virginia Tech...

(Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) and were not involved in the plant's
operation. The seismographs removed would provide a recorded indication of how strong the quake
was at the plant.

[FiveGoodMen]

9. How does the software know what to do without sensors to tell it?

[PoliticAverse]

15. The sensors that were removed were installed/operated by Virginia Tech...

(Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) were placed around the plant and were not
involved in the plant's operation. The seismographs removed would provide a recorded indication
of how strong the quake was at the plant.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Ok at this point... I should be surprised how?

Nothing surprised me any more

[anarch]

11. well that's because we never have any earthquakes around here

oh, wait.