A natural gas well that will be hydraulically fractured, or fracked, is planned one mile from FirstEnergy Corp.’s Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station in western Pennsylvania.
A spokeswoman from First- Energy said the Akron-based utility is not alarmed.
“We’re not aware of any potential impacts and don’t expect any,” Jennifer Young said Monday. “We see no reason to be particularly concerned.”
The issue came to light Friday when the Pennsylvania-based blog Shale Reporter outlined plans for the well by Chesapeake Energy Corp., the Oklahoma-based energy giant.
That story said experts can’t say if locating a well so close to two nuclear power plants should raise red flags.
On Oct. 3, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Agency approved a permit for the well, to be located 1.06 miles from the Beaver Valley plant at Shippingport, Pa. Drilling has not started.
Agency spokesperson John Poister told the Shale Reporter there are no required setbacks specifically relating to a required distance between such shale wells and nuclear facilities, just a blanket regulation requiring a 500-foot setback from any building to a natural gas well.
Poister said he doesn’t believe there are geological concerns regarding fracking near a nuclear site.
With more than a mile setback distance, the newly permitted well would comply with state regulations.
Poister said he is not aware of any other nuclear power station located in an area where shale drilling is occurring.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesperson Neil Sheehan said agency regulations focus only on operations within the nuclear site, the Shale Reporter said.
Earthquakes have been linked to injection wells — not production wells like the Beaver Valley well — in Youngstown and other locations, including Arkansas and Texas. The largest Youngstown quake registered 4.0 magnitude.
Sheehan said seismic analysis is conducted before any nuclear power plant in the United States is designed and built.
FirstEnergy officials have said the Beaver Valley plants were built to withstand a 5.8-magnitude earthquake.
The strongest quake ever recorded in Pennsylvania registered 5.2 magnitude.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.