Operators of the concrete-domed San Onofre nuclear plant Monday were trying to reassure jittery Southern California residents that the nuclear disaster unfolding in Japan won't happen here.
The 84-acre generating station in the northern corner of San Diego County is built to withstand a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, said Gil Alexander, a spokesman for the generation station's operator, Southern California Edison.
Slightly disconcerting as the massive quake that just rocked Japan was originally reported to be a 8.9 and has since been upgraded to 9.0 magnitude. The designers did plan for a tsunami so at least that is under control.
A 25-foot-high "tsunami wall" of reinforced concete was also erected between the plant and the adjacent ocean, a height based on scientists' best estimates of the potential threat, he said. The geological fault most likely to directly threaten San Onofre lies about 5 miles offshore, Alexander said.
And again it seems the designers are a buck short. The tsunami created by the Japanese earthquake was reported to be 33 feet tall. Looks like there needs to be some retrofitting done in San Onofre, "Dolly Parton" is at risk.
[via BoingBoing]
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