U.S. Nuclear Power Plants: Vulnerable To Earthquakes?

The 6.3-magnitude earthquake that shook the largest power plant in the world to its knees this week in Japan has raised the specter of a similar natural disaster affecting plants elsewhere in the world, including in the United States.

The earthquake caused a fire in a transistor, led to the leak of water with low radioactivity, and prompted the automatic shutdown of the Tokyo Electric Power Co. reactors.

Both the Nuclear Regulator Commission and the nation’s leading nuclear energy watchdog, the Union Of Concerned Scientists, agree that U.S. plants are built to withstand earthquakes.

But the watchdog sees vulnerabilities that the federal agency doesn’t acknowledge.

“The good news about our plants is we knew about earthquakes before, and as a result of that, the plants in California, for example, are more robust and built for a stronger shake than plants on the East Coast for obvious reasons,” said David Lochbaum, director of UCS Nuclear Safety Project.

The bad news, Lochbaum said, is that Japan knew about earthquakes too, and designed its reactors to meet standards that are as stringent, if not more stringent than those used in the most earthquake-prone parts of the country, like California.

And while critical reactor features are built to withstand earthquakes, secondary infrastructure like piping and electrical equipment could fail, Lochbaum said, potentially leading to a meltdown if backup safety features fail.
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