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Are the people there scared of it? Looking on the map it looks closest to places like Fuquay Varina. Does the proximity of that affect home values? Any known pollution or water contamination?
Do most people just shrug it off and not care about it? I have seen some homes I like over there, and the prices definitely seem a little lighter, but wondered if its just because of the remoteness from the city center, or is it the Nuke plant??
I've lived in this area for 3 years, and my experience has been that people generally shurg it off. Holly Springs and Fuquay Varina are the closest, and it is a material fact that must be disclosed to a potential homeowner. Honestly, at the moment, people are more concerned about the environmental impact of the EQ facility chemical fire in Apex than Shearon Harris. The prices of homes in those areas are more a reflection of the distance from the city, as you suspected, although there is growth toward thsoe areas as well.
I live in Holly Springs and it is not an issue with anyone in our neighborhood. I think that since people who buy here are aware of it before they buy that there is nothing to be "shocked or alarmed" about after the fact. It sure hasn't affected home prices in our neighborhood!
We have a nuc plant at San Onofre State Beach in San Diego county, and it is never even discussed. We worry about fires more than the nuc plant, that is our disasters around here. Oh, okay, earthquakes are pretty nasty too!!
I live in Somerset Farm (south side of Holly Springs). When I first moved in, I was somewhat concerned about it. But since then, I haven't been concerned about safety, and even think it looks cool from a distance. There haven't been any concerns about pollution.
There's a nuclear watchdog group that has complained that the wiring in the plant doesn't conform to current fireproofing standards. But I get the impression that the group is simply anti-nuclear, and trying to find something wrong with the plant.
It has its advantages too...
One reason listed by Novartis for building their pharmaceutical plant in Holly Springs was an ample power supply because of the proximity of nuclear plant.
Also, Progress Energy owns most of the land out there, which IMHO is going to be the last remaining contiguous property left in the county, which may be useful in attracting future industry.
I'm certain that the property values in the area are lower because of the distance from Raleigh, and because there's still plenty of land left to be developed around here. The property values aren't stagnant either. I bought my house new for $155k in 2003, and it appraises now at about $195k.
From what I've seen, home prices appear to be higher in Holly Springs than Fuquay Varina (i.e. bigger homes/bigger lots in FV for the same price) even though FV is farther from the plant. So commute times to RTP and Raleigh are more important than the location of the nuke plant.
Builders don't seem to be concerned about it either. 'Twelve Oaks' is a new golf community with 1500 homes being build right on Harris Lake.
Cool, this really helps alot... thanks everyone! Anyone else knows any more, feel free to add!!
We have a power plant here in AZ called "palo verde"... its WAY out though, but they say even so people in Phx would have quite a problem on their hands if something happened there and we are even MUCH further. It was a little surprising for me to see a nuke facility actually so close to the Raleigh metro area... I do agree after looking at pics too that it looks kind of cool rising over the changing colored leaves & trees. A very interesting contrast!
I don't think it would concern me either, because in reality if that thing goes up in flames, its not going to matter if you are "very close" or just "kind of close", All of greater Raleigh is going to be affected... I'd rather die instantly than a prolonged tortured existance...
Apex is the closest "big town" to Sharon Harris. When the EQ chemical disaster happened in October, I remember thinking it was Sharon Harris at first and was ready to duck and cover (though in reality that would be useless). There's a local bar/chicken wing joint called 'em are wings, that calls its hottest hot wings "Sharon Harris". So it's almost part of the local culture really.
Take your chosen carreer: law enforcement, nursing, firefighting, accounting, education, pilot, business, whatever it is you do. Ask yourself this question: How much does the public really know and understand about it? Now ask this: Is the media portrayal of what I do for a living accurate?
Okay now I gotta tell you, the nuclear industry is much maligned and little understood. The information you are getting is controlled very much by groups with an agenda that is more biased and misleading than anything you will EVER get from the NRC or a corporation that owns a nuclear power plant.
Chemical plants and paper mills are a much bigger community concern in my informed opinion. Facts:
"The average radiation dose to people living within ten miles of [Three Mile Island Power Plant during its accident] was estimated to be 8 - 30 millirem (mrem), and no more than 100 mrem to any single individual. Eight millirem is about equal to a chest X-ray, and 100 millirem is about a third of the average background level of radiation received by US residents in a year."
-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island
Three mile island and the lessons learned from it resulted in detailed and redundant safety measures. These required-by-law changes to the industry receive little publicity. But the proof is in the safe operation of naval and commercial nuclear power plants day-in and day-out, 24/7 with no major incidents. This is due to the incredible redundant systems to prevent and mitigate serious problems.
What about Chernobyl? you say. Well, the analogy would be if some people running an airport said "The operating manual says not to allow 2 planes to land on the same runway at the same time, but lets try it anyway." Consider also the design and condition of the runway and the planes was substandard to the point that anyone with common sense would not fly under those conditions. Disaster was the result.
Occupational radiation exposure of 300 mrem/year every year from age 18 to age 65 (this is not the norm, but an extreme extreme) would result in lost life expectancy of 15 days. US Average alcohol consumption? 1 year. Being 15 % overweight? 2 years. Smoking a pack a day? 6 years.
Non-occupational exposure (at the boundary of a nuclear power plant) is miniscule compared to background radiation, medical radiation exposure, dental x-rays, etc. I work in a nuclear power plant and deal with monitoring my dose every day. The people in Denver receive more radiation exposure than I do each year. Why? Because they live in the Mile-High city. Less atmosphere to block cosmic radiation.
As for other occupational hazards (this is to workers, now, not the public), construction, mining, coal-fired plants, chemical plants, agriculture.... ALL have a worse safety record than nuclear power. Accident rates, injury rates, death rates, all are lower in the commercial nuclear power industry than in other occupations.
The level of contamination at which we can release materials from our control is probably about 1/10th of what you find on the floor of the fertilizer aisle at Home Depot. Lantern Mantles are more radioactive than 99 percent of our tools.
I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Don't fear something you don't understand. Educate yourself.
I've done some research into nuclear plants and of course living near one day-to-day is fine because there is no pollution. Lots of people do live near them and don't think twice about it. But a realtor here did tell me that some people don't want to live near them so that is one reason land is cheaper closer to the plant.
I'm not part of any anti-nuclear plant organization. I just tend to be big on preventing major problems if I can. It's like this: My chances of being in a really horrible car accident aren't great. But I wear a seatbelt anyway. That doesn't mean I'm fearful. It's just a form of insurance. So that's where I'm coming from with what I'm about to say.
I once attended a meeting held down in Apex where the director of Emergency Management shared information about the nuclear plant. So I'll share what I learned there and leave it up to each person here to make his or her own decision.
Within about ten miles of the plant they have sirens that will sound if there's ever a problem. They give out potassium iodide to residents in those areas I believe. That's a pill you can take if radiation ever spews forth from the plant and it helps protect your thyroid. It does not protect other parts of the body though.
The director of EM said that if an event ever happens they do not want parents coming to pick their kids up from public schools within that ten mile area. The reason is traffic congestion. They will put the kids on buses and take them to designated places around Raleigh.
What I find puzzling is that most of the places they would bus the kids to are just as likely to be affected by radiation as closer in - it just takes more time for the wind to push the radiation into those areas. There is a middle school just a bit north of North Hills Mall that serves as one of these protection places. Anyone who knows the Raleigh area and prevailing winds knows that this school hardly serves as a good place to take children in the event of a radiation emergency.
While at the meeting I asked the director how long it would take them to bus all the kids out of the ten mile area and he said he guessed it would take about 4 hours. Anyone who knows about radiation exposure knows that's not a plan.
An elderly woman asked him a question about medication. She said she's diabetic and wondered what would happen if she forgot to take her medication with her when she left. The director told her they would provide her medication.
Some here may think I'm kidding about all this, but I am not. Too many people today rely on the government to save them in emergencies. They don't think ahead.
Does everyone here remember the bad ice/snowstorm where Raleigh traffic gridlocked and caused people to stall on the roads for 12 or more hours? It happened 2-3 years ago I think. Many drives that normally take 30 minutes took 12 hours because traffic was so bad no one could move ahead. And it was cold - real, real cold. What happened is most people left their jobs about the same time. School buses tried to get kids home, but many could not so the kids stayed at the schools all night long.
People who lived through that know I'm not kidding.
So I think anyone living near a nuclear plant has to ask themselves what might happen if the sirens started going off and radiation was leaking from the plant. Could traffic gridlock occur from people trying to get away at the same time? How would you feel just letting the school handle getting your kids away apart from you? Does the 4 hours it would take to bus them out bother you?
Now here's something else: If a major nuclear plant emergency ever occurred someone said it would not matter how far someone lives from the plant around Raleigh because we'd all be in trouble. Well, that's true to some extent. But here's the deal: People farther away would have more time to get away because the farther away you are the more time it takes for the wind to blow the radiation your way. Closer to the plant you need to get away very quickly.
I believe winds usually blow from the SW depending on time of year so the bulk of the radiation would blow across Raleigh and NE.
I hope that helps some.
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