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Earthquakes in northeast Canada rattled buildings in several cities Friday but had no effect on nearby nuclear facilities. A 5.2 magnitude quake was the largest of the tremors near Ottawa and struck at about 9:45 a.m. Its epicenter was about 50 miles from the Chalk River Laboratories, the birthplace...

A deadly earthquake in southwest Iran has not damaged the country's sole commercial nuclear plant, according to an Iranian report to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA immediately began monitoring the quake Tuesday, and its emergency center received a report from Iranian authorities...

An investigation by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission found that some seismic equipment briefly stopped working at Virginia's North Anna nuclear plant during an earthquake in 2011. No damage occurred, reactor safety systems performed as designed, and both units at the Dominion plant shut down automatically...

State regulators in California last week dealt a setback to Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s efforts to map offshore fault lines near the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. One of a number of seismic studies PG&E is undertaking would have used air cannons directed at the seabed as part of a process to...

Operators at the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant felt a 5.3 magnitude earthquake in central California over the weekend, but it did not trip the reactors or cause any damage at the plant. Nonetheless, the shaking prompted an unusual event notification to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission while crews conducted...

A magnitude 4.0 earthquake could be felt by workers at the Seabrook nuclear plant Tuesday, but they quickly confirmed it had little effect on the facility. Seabrook's 1,295 megawatt Westinghouse pressurized water reactor was down for refueling, and according to a report filed with the Nuclear Regulatory...

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said its research indicates a fault line off the California coast is not a safety threat to the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant. A recently issued research information letter addressed a fault Pacific Gas and Electric reported to the agency in 2008 that lies about a...

The 5.8-magnitude trembler began at 1:51 p.m., EST, 5 miles south-southwest of Mineral, Va. one year ago today. The epicenter was about 11 miles from North Anna nuclear power plant. Both reactors were shut down safely following the earthquake, and backup systems functioned as planned. Dominion immediately...

Unplanned reactor trips at St. Lucie and a generator malfunction during last year’s earthquake at North Anna will result in additional inspections at the plants, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced Monday. Florida Power and Light’s St. Lucie unit 1 reactor in Jensen Beach, Fla., has...

New leadership at Tokyo Electric Power Co. and progress in the capital toward a new regulatory regime highlighted the recent news from Japan. Developments related to the Fukushima Daiichi reactors severely damaged following last year's earthquake and tsunami include: Outside Directors Selected for...

NextEra Energy conducted a graded tsunami drill Tuesday at Seabrook Nucelar Power Plant in order to identify strengths and weaknesses of the plant in case of such a disaster. With representatives from FEMA and the NRC in attendance, NextEra officials ran drills from 8:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. that...

Workers manually inspected the wetwells inside two units at Fukushima Daiichi Wednesday – hours before another earthquake shook Japan but did not seem to affect its nuclear plants. Recent developments at the Tokyo Electric Power Co. plant severely damaged following last year’s earthquake...

This Sunday marks a year since the Fukushima Daiichi crisis began in Japan. A tsunami the height of a three-story building inundated Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s coastal plants and made real a scenario that even the most creative emergency manager would find hard to believe – a beyond-design...

A faulty thermometer in unit 2, radioactive gravel and a frank mea culpa from a Japanese nuclear safety chief highlighted the news from Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant last week. Recent developments surrounding the tsunami-damaged reactors include: TEPCO: Bad Thermometer...

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, after careful analysis of inspection findings and related information, has concluded Dominion Generation’s North Anna Unit 1 and 2 reactors can be restarted. The North Anna reactors, in Louisa, Va., have been shut down since Aug. 23, when a magnitude 5.8 earthquake...

Although conditions within damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are improving, ongoing analysis of the station blackout and Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s response continues to unveil disturbing details of the March accident. Developments over the last week include: Plant Manual...

The chief nuclear officer of Dominion today told the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the North Anna Power Station successfully withstood an earthquake without any significant damage because its robust design included multiple, designed-in safety margins. (Slide presentations are below.) David...

Developments over the last week at the Japanese nuclear plant blacked out by the March earthquake and tsunami include: TEPCO Anticipates Cold Shutdown By End of Year Tokyo Electric Power Co. may declare that its three severely damaged reactors at the plant have reached cold shutdown status earlier than...

(Please visit the site to view this video) Tokyo Electric Power Co. released this video Saturday. Taken Oct. 3 during dust sampling, it shows an aerial view of unit 1 at Fukushima Daiichi. A camera suspended from a crane surveys the roof and then offers close-up images of the damage caused by a...

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission remains undecided as to when it will allow electrical generation to resume at North Anna, but on Friday the agency indicated the Virginia nuclear plant will remain offline at least until after a meeting later this month. The NRC has scheduled a meeting at its Maryland...

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will push for more data on the effects of a recent earthquake at Virginia’s North Anna nuclear plant before it will be allowed to come back online. On Friday, an NRC release summarized a confirmatory action letter that placed the onus on Dominion Virginia Power...

Dominion Virginia Power informed the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission yesterday that multiple detailed inspections have found no significant damage to equipment at North Anna Power Station from the Aug. 23 earthquake. North Anna , like other U.S. nuclear stations, was hardened against earthquakes...

As Dominion Resources and inspectors from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission analyze data from the Aug. 23 earthquake centered 12 miles from the North Anna nuclear plant, the NRC has scheduled a meeting today to assess their results so far. The 5.8 magnitude quake near Mineral, Va., caused both of North...

Centered just 12 miles from the North Anna nuclear plant, last week’s earthquake in Virginia may have exceeded the facility’s design limits, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission indicated Monday. In a release, the agency said it has dispatched an augmented inspection team to gather further data...

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and reactor operators have given power plants within range of Tuesday’s earthquake a clean bill of health. All 12 facilities that declared an unusual event, the lowest of the NRC’s emergency designations, have dropped those declarations and continue to operate...