Earthquake in Virginia: One of the Largest Ever On the East Coast
One of the largest East Coast earthquakes in recorded history struck today.
Very Close to Nuclear Power Plant
The epicenter was very close to the Lake Anna nuclear power plant:
In fact, many U.S. nuclear power plants are built near earthquake faults.
The Lake Anna reactor was ranked the 7th most at risk from earthquakes of any reactor by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Indeed, today's quake was 5.9, and nuclear expert Bob Alvarez says that the Lake Anna plant was only built to withstand a 5.9 to 6.1 quake.
And earthquake sensors were previously removed around the reactor due to budget cuts.As I've previously pointed out, Japan's nuclear meltdown, the economic meltdown, and the Gulf oil meltdown all happened for the same reason: cutting safety measures to make an extra buck.
Initial reports sounded scary:
But full power has now been restored.