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Politics & Government

NRC: Risk of quake event at Limerick plant third highest in U.S.

The agency estimates the annual risk of a quake-related event at the Limerick Generating Station at 1 in 18,868.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has estimated the annual risk of an earthquake-related event at Exelon Nuclear's Limerick Generating Station to be 1 in 18,868, according to an investigative report by msnbc.com.

That ranks the Limerick facility third nationally in earthquake risk, behind the Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, New York, and the Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

An older study by the NRC had estimated the annual risk of an earthquake related event at the Limerick site to be 1 in 45,455.

Find out what's happening in Limerick-Royersford-Spring Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to msnbc.com, the NRC conducted its latest study in August 2010, based on 2008 earthquake data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The NRC told msnbc.com on Tuesday that it's preparing to send "certain nuclear plants" letters asking them for "more detailed data on equipment, soil conditions, and seismic preparedness."

Find out what's happening in Limerick-Royersford-Spring Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The additional NRC scrutiny comes as the Limerick plant is preparing to undergo significant equipment overhauls this spring in advance of a license-renewal application later this year.

If Exelon Nuclear's application is approved, the operating licenses on the station's two reactors would be extended to 2044 and 2049, respectively.  Currently, the operating licenses for those units are due to expire in 2024 and 2029.

Reuters reported Sunday that the stricken Fukushima Daichi plant northeastern Japan was scheduled to be decommissioned last month but had its operating license extended by another ten years.

According to Reuters, the Fukushima Daichi plant is 40 years old.  The two reactors at Limerick received their original operating licenses in 1984 and 1989.

[Editor's note: An earlier version of this article reported the source of the investigative report as MSNBC. Investigative reporter Bill Dedman contacted us to advise us that he works for msnbc.com, not MSNBC. "We're not MSNBC. That's a TV company, in New York. We're msnbc.com, a Web company, in Redmond, Wash. They've always been separate. (Half-sisters, one owner in common,)" Dedman wrote. We're pleased to make the correction.]

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