Federal Emergency Management Agency Will Evaluate Readiness Of Virginia Atomic Power Plant
- By April Murelio -
The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency will evaluate a Biennial Emergency Preparedness Exercise at the North Anna Power Station. The week-long exercise, which will run this week, will test the ability of the Commonwealth of Virginia to respond to an emergency at the nuclear facility.
These drills are held every other year to test government’s ability to protect public health and safety. FEMA will evaluate state and local emergency response capabilities within the 10-mile emergency-planning zone of the nuclear facility.
Within 90 days, FEMA will send its evaluation to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for use in licensing decisions. The final report will be available to the public about 120 days after the exercise.
FEMA will present preliminary findings of the exercise in a public meeting at 11:00 a.m. on July 23, at the Richmond Marriott West, 4240 Dominion Boulevard, Glen Allen, Va. 23060. Speakers include representatives from FEMA, NRC, and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards. FEMA Region III’s jurisdiction includes Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
North Anna generates 1,806 megawatts from its two units — enough electricity to power 450,000 homes. Unit 1 began commercial operation in June, 1978 and Unit 2 followed in December 1980.
North Anna is located in Louisa County in central Virginia, northwest of Richmond. The facility was named after the North Anna River, which was dammed to form the 9,600-acre Lake Anna reservoir and the 3,400-acre Waste Heat Treatment Facility, used to provide cooling water for the station.
Dominion Virginia Power announced on May 7, 2010, that it had selected Mitsubishi Heavy Industry's Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor (US-APWR) technology for a potential third nuclear unit at its North Anna Power Station.
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