NRC SENDS AUGMENTED INSPECTION TEAM 

TO NORTH ANNA NUCLEAR POWER STATION

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has dispatched an Augmented Inspection Team to 

the North Anna nuclear power station to further review the effects of last week’s earthquake, the 

operators’ response and the plant staff’s activities to check equipment. 

Just after 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 23, an Alert was declared at the North Anna station, 

which is operated by Dominion near Louisa, Va., about 40 miles northwest of Richmond. The 

station’s two units automatically shut down after the facility lost offsite power. Emergency diesel 

generators provided power to cool the reactors until offsite power was restored a few hours later. 

An Alert is the next to lowest NRC emergency classification for plant events, and the North 

Anna station exited the Alert after offsite power was restored. 

The station remains shut down and the company continues to review data from the quake 

and assess possible effects. No significant damage to safety systems has been identified, but 

Dominion has reported to the NRC that initial reviews determined the plant may have exceeded 

the ground motion for which it was designed. This determination is in line with NRC’s 

preliminary independent analyses, although data is still being collected and analyzed to 

determine the precise level of shaking that was experienced at key locations within the North 

Anna facility. The company and the NRC will continue to carefully evaluate information to 

determine if additional actions may be necessary. NRC regulations require that the station not 

start up until it can demonstrate that no functional damage occurred to those features needed for 

continued safe operation.

The NRC initially dispatched a seismic expert and another structural expert to assist the 

agency’s resident inspectors on site. Further reviews indicated that additional inspection is 

warranted. The NRC inspection has now been officially classified as an AIT or Augmented 

Inspection Team.

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs, Region II

245 Peachtree Center Ave., NE, Suite 1200

Atlanta, GA 30303-1257

Site: www.nrc.gov

Blog: http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov

No: II-11-052

CONTACT: Roger Hannah (404) 997-4417

 Joey Ledford (404) 997-4416 

 August 29, 2011

E-mail: OPA2.Resource@nrc.gov
An AIT is formed by the NRC to review more significant events or issues at NRClicensed facilities. The AIT will include technical experts from NRC headquarters in Rockville, 

Md. as well as two additional inspectors from the regional office in Atlanta. The AIT will be led 

by NRC Region II Branch Chief Mark Franke and North Anna Senior Resident Inspector Greg 

Kolcum and will officially begin work at the North Anna station on Tuesday.

“The fact that we’re sending an AIT should not be interpreted to mean that Dominion 

staff responded inappropriately or that the station is less safe as a result of the quake,” said NRC 

Region II Administrator Victor McCree. “An AIT provides us with the resources needed to 

completely understand all the effects at North Anna and gather important information for the 

NRC’s continuing evaluation of earthquake risk at all U.S. nuclear plants.”

The AIT will hold an exit meeting with the company upon completion of the inspection 

to discuss its preliminary findings. That meeting will be open to interested members of the public 

and the news media, and team members will be available to answer questions after the results are 

presented. The AIT will also issue a written report 30 days after the completion of the inspection.

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