With two major uranium enrichment companies looking to build in McCracken County and renewed interest in nuclear energy in far western Kentucky, scientists are putting in more devices to track earthquake activity in the region. Data collected from those instruments could help developers know how they need to factor what’s happening beneath the earth's surface in their projects.
Two companies, General Matter and Global Laser Enrichment, have plans to build on and near the site of the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The two groups’ multi-billion-dollar uranium enrichment initiatives to bring new investments and business activity to the region have drawn concerns from some who question whether the risks of major earthquakes in far western Kentucky have been factored in properly with these proposed developments.
Parts of far western Kentucky, including McCracken County, are part of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, one of the most active seismic regions in the United States. Stretching across parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky, the zone has a history of producing powerful earthquakes. Because of the fault line’s proximity to the Paducah area, scientists have focused on understanding how activity in this region could affect surrounding communities.
Earlier this spring, seismologists with Kentucky Geological Survey installed 25 seismic nodes at the PGDP site, which collect data on earthquake activity.
Seth Carpenter, a KGS seismologist, said the group began placing sensors across the state to track ground movement, allowing them to detect both small and large earthquakes and build a clearer picture of where activity is occurring. In the event of a larger earthquake, Carpenter said the strong motions the devices detect would help engineers and policymakers know how much ground shaking they need to consider with new construction projects.
“We have increasingly advanced the seismic network in the area to understand both those engineering effects and the ability to monitor the smaller earthquakes,” Carpenter said. “We operate several sensors in the immediate area of Paducah and the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant [site], and then some other ones over a larger area, just to get a picture of both earthquake activity and their effects.”
Over time, Carpenter said the technology behind that monitoring has continued to improve, giving researchers a clearer picture of how earthquake energy moves through the ground and what that could mean for communities across western Kentucky.
Carpenter says the data collected from earthquake monitoring over time has played a role in shaping how buildings, roads, and bridges are designed, helping engineers and policymakers understand how much shaking a structure should be able to withstand.
“Knowing where the earthquakes are, having some idea of the size that an earthquake can attain for a region, and then the levels of shaking that you might expect – those are the relevant parts of our research,” Carpenter said.
He said much of the research is meant to help people better understand potential risks and how to prepare for them.
“It may be easier to characterize hazards and then let people understand that hazard and make decisions based on it.”
