Environmental groups ask for more post-quake scrutiny at North Anna

Several environmental groups this afternoon will be arguing for more public imput, and scrutiny, of the North Anna Power Station. Representatives of Beyond Nuclear, Saprodani Associates, Not on Our Fault Line, Alliance for Progressive Values, and the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club will appear befor the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s petition review board, on alleged health and safety concerns at the Louisa County plant in the wake of the Aug. 23 earthquake.

 The groups in October filed a petition asking the NRC to block a restart pending a re-licensing process focusing on seismic risks; analysis of the earthquake vulnerability of the dam on Lake Anna, which provides the plant with cooling water; and re-examination of safety and compliance issues for spent-fuel storage casks, which shifted slightly during the quake.

 The NRC OK’d the restart of the plant’s two units last month. Officials with Dominion power, which owns and operates the plant, have maintained that there was no significant damage from the 5.8-magnitude quake, and that no safety or operating equipment , fuel, or the Lake Anna dam,  were affected. Watch the session, scheduled for 2:30-4 p.m. today, here.

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