LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Entergy Corp. will review a new seismic model to figure out whether its Arkansas Nuclear One plant needs to make any changes to prepare for earthquakes, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Arkansas Nuclear One spokeswoman Donna Gregory said the plant near Russellville isn't anticipating any major changes to the protections it already has in place.
"Our original design is pretty solid," Gregory said. "We feel like we're safe today and we'll be safe tomorrow, but we constantly reevaluate our processes."
The plant's two reactors — plus the remaining 94 others in the central and eastern parts of the country — will have to be reassessed within four years to determine how well they would withstand earthquakes, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week.
Gregory said Arkansas' nuclear plant, which produces about 1,860 megawatts of power, or enough to power more than 1.8 million homes, was designed and built to withstand the largest earthquake historically reported in the area — plus a margin of safety.
However, she cautioned it's too early to tell whether the plant, which is about 80 miles northwest of Little Rock, will have to make tweaks based on the new seismic model.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week released an updated seismic risk model that plant operators — including the one here in Arkansas — must use to recalculate risks. The model has been in development for four years but took on a greater urgency after last year's nuclear disaster in Japan following an earthquake and tsunami, the NRC said.
The Associated Press reported in September that the NRC believed a fourth of America's reactors might need modifications to make them safer in the event of an earthquake. The report, based on a preliminary AP analysis of government data, came after the largest earthquake to hit Virginia in 117 years appeared to exceed what the North Anna nuclear power plant was built to sustain. The plant northwest of Richmond was shut down for three months after the Aug. 23 quake caused peak ground movement about twice the level for which the plant was designed.
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