Virginia Woman Missing in Japan Earthquake Found Alive

The parents of Taylor Anderson of Midlothian, Virginia, got the good news this morning that their daughter was alive after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.  Anderson had been teaching American culture to Japanese students in a seaside town located near the epicenter.  More from CBS News

While many of the world's nuclear powers use the disaster in Japan to review their own nuclear power programs, officials with Dominion Virginia Power are pushing ahead with planning for a third reactor at its North Anna Nuclear Power Station.  However, a spokesman for the utility says they haven't yet decided to build the new reactor.  More from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Meanwhile, Dominion sees its Surry Nuclear Power Station as less at risk from the environment than the crippled plant in Japan, the Daily Press is reporting.  The plant could be susceptible to floods, hurricane, tornadoes, or terrorist attacks, but a utility spokesman says they are ready for such events.  Both the Surry and North Anna plants are built to withstand earthquakes of up to magnitude 6.2.  The strongest quake ever recorded in Virginia, in Giles County in 1897, measured 5.9 on the Richter Scale.  Link to the Daily Press article.

The newest nuclear power plants in the U.S. are nearly 40 years old.  None have been built since the mid-70's, partially due to fears following the Three Mile Island partial meltdown in the 1970's and the disaster at Chernobyl in the 80's.

What is a meltdown?  -- With all the talk of nuclear meltdowns, we should be asking, "what is a nuclear meltdown?"  Apparently it's not what we remember from "The China Syndrome."  The explanation here...