Second Nebraska Nuclear Plant Threatened By Flooding

http://www.businessinsider.com/second-nebraska-nuclear-plant-threatened-by-flooding-but-everything-should-be-fine-2011-6

Ricky Kreitner | Jun. 17, 2011, 11:44 AM

A second nuclear power plant in Nebraska is being threatened by rising floodwaters, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a federal watchdog agency, says the plant's owners are taking the appropriate steps to ward off danger, according to a report in the Omaha World-Herald.

The Cooper Power Station would have to go into cold shutdown should floodwaters rise an additional six feet, a prospect local officials say is highly unlikely.

The Cooper plant is located 70 miles south of Omaha. The other nuclear plant at risk of flooding, the Fort Calhoun power station, is just north of Omaha.

Officials say a key difference between the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan and the two plants in Nebraska is that the Japanese plant had only an hour after the devastating March earthquake to prepare for floods. The Nebraska plants have had weeks to prepare flood defenses.

“That's not enough time to relocate a nuclear plant to higher ground or jack it up on stilts,” a nuclear scientist told the Omaha World-Herald, “but it is plenty of time to check to ensure that watertight doors are intact, backup power supplies are available and functional, fuel oil tanks are topped off, etc.”

At Fort Calhoun, the plant's owner, the Omaha Public Power District, has erected flood barriers to protect the plant should waters rise to 1010"-1012". The cooling pool for spent fuel rods is at 1,038.5". The river was measured earlier this week at 1005.6".

Elizabeth Cory, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, told the Omaha World-Herald that the flight bans over the two nuclear plants are meant to avoid collisions between aircraft drawn to the scene by curiosity.

“When you keep the area above the ground safe, you're going to keep the people on the ground safe, too,” Cory said.


http://www.businessinsider.com/faa-closes-airspace-over-flooded-nebraska-nuclear-power-plant-2011-6

Ricky Kreitner | Jun. 15, 2011, 4:02 PM

A fire in Nebraska's Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant briefly knocked out the cooling process for spent nuclear fuel rods, ProPublica reports.
The fire occurred on June 7th, and knocked out cooling for approximately 90 minutes. After 88 hours, the cooling pool would boil dry and highly radioactive materials would be exposed.
On June 6th, the Federal Administration Aviation (FAA) issued a directive banning aircraft from entering the airspace within a two-mile radius of the plant.
"No pilots may operate an aircraft in the areas covered by this NOTAM," referring to the "notice to airmen," effective immediately.
Since last week, the plant has been under a "notification of unusual event" classification, becausing of the rising Missouri River. That is the lowest level of emergency alert.
The OPPD claims the FAA closed airspace over the plant because of the Missouri River flooding. But the FAA ban specifically lists the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant as the location for the flight ban.
The plant is adjacent to the now-flooding river, about 20 minutes outside downtown Omaha, and has been closed since April for refueling.

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