5.8 earthquake in richmond Virginia 10 minutes ago!

[alms24sebring]

Yeah I absolutely agree and I feel the same way. The shirts were just too much. It looks and sounds stupid.

[TroubleBound]

I got a small crack in the living room wall in my apartment but it is minor. I thought some dogs were running around upstairs it was so weak. I went outside to yell at them and saw my neighbors running out the house with their kids in their arms wearing pjs. Haha they were overreacting pretty bad they looked terrified.

[sx moneypit]

:

scientists have just confirmed the cause of the earthquake - it was our founding fathers rolling over in their graves.

[jestep91]

I'm in DC, it felt kinda weird bcuz I didn't have a clue what was goin on I jumped out the bed and look at the bed like it did something wrong.lls

[300ZXttZMAN]

LMAO

[skydragoness]

It's great that the thing didn't do much harm and we get some great meme fodder, but it's worth considering the potential for disaster. There are nuclear reactors in this area. Remember Fukushima?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ ... story.html

The two nuclear power reactors in North Anna, Va., were cooling off Wednesday after being shut down by Tuesday’s earthquake, but the debate about what lessons should be learned for nuclear safety was still simmering.

Now, the good news is the while the backup system did not function flawlessly, they did work. Hopefully this less than stellar performance will light a fire under some asses to take it a bit more seriously.

Dominion Resources, owner of the reactors, said that its safety procedures worked. When three shaken transformers tripped like circuit breakers, four locomotive-size diesel generators kicked in. When one of those generators sprang a radiator water leak, another backup generator was turned on.

Let's hope "good enough" is not the tack the industry will take going forward.

“We were really close here,” Macfarlane said. “Some would say that’s evidence of us getting it right, but I would say that we’re really pushing the envelope. With something like a nuclear reactor, I would like a large safety margin.”

Of course, she added, “a larger safety margin entails higher costs,” and the nuclear power industry doesn’t like that.

If these bad boys pop, the plume is not pretty and blows across my old stomping ground.




If you want to scare the s*** out of yourself which has become the fastest growing American sport this is a great resource.
http://www.nuclearpowerdanger.com/plume ... es-6mi.php

So from what I've been reading that tremors in the VA area are pretty frequent (just at really low levels); so then why are the power plants so ill prepared? It's not like they don't know about them, they just assume there will never be a "big one"?

[alms24sebring]

That's true. I think a lot of people assume that, but the first rule is to never assume anything.

[themadscientist]

Business and government don't care. It becomes incumbent on the people to make sure they do even if it's just because they know you do.