forces in libya are free tonight. late word of a new kidnapping and last ditch battles that may be linked to moammar gadhafi s escape plan. and cnn goes inside the virginia nuclear power plant near the epicenter of that historic quake. we have a lot of questions about nuclear safety and whether the east coast is prepared if another big one hits. wolf blitzer s off today. i m joe johns. you re in the situation room. hurricane irene is bearing town on the bahamas with winds of up to 120 miles an hour right now, and the national weather service warns this category 3 monster could be upgraded, upgraded to a category 4 tomorrow. that means irene could be capable of catastrophic damage when it slams the east coast in the days ahead. the storm has been pounding the turks and caicos and other islands and gaining strength along the way. there are reports of damage but so far no serious injuries. we do have a view from space that gives you an idea of just how big the storm is. it
with this report. trace, how would the power plant where you re standing right there, one of the few in california, how would it fare if we compare, have a comparable disaster to the one we saw in japan? reporter: jenna, the authorities believe it would farewell but there are a number of parts to that answer. we re talking about a nuclear power plant the biggest in southern california. powers 1.4 million homes here. just like the nuclear power plant in swrap pan, built right on the ocean, in very earthquake-prone california. we had a 4.7-magnitude earthquake here last year the authorities believe the biggest earthquake that could hit the area would be 6.5 magnitude. they have built the thing to withstand a 7. you see the concrete domes behind my? those are concrete, three to seven feet thick with reinforced steel. if there was a tsunami, on the back end of that earthquake they believe it would only be as high as 25 feet. so they have built the tsunami wall at 30 feet. but again, thes