Nebraska Nuclear Plant Officials Say There is No Fear of Meltdown Because Plants Would Operate with Off-site Power Sources If Necessary

Rumors Fly As Floodwaters Rise Around Nuclear Plants

The relentless waters of the Missouri River are crowding both of Nebraska’s nuclear power plants while inaccurate rumors about their status flood the Internet.

June 23, 2011

Nebraska StatePaper.com - The Cooper Nuclear Station at Brownville was operating at full power Thursday. The Fort Calhoun nuclear plant, 19 miles from Omaha, shut down April 7 for a refueling outage; it won’t be restarted until floodwaters recede, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The NRC said “Unusual Event” declarations remain in effect at both plants, the lowest of four levels of emergency notification. NRC officials said close contact is being maintained with the National Weather Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and both plants.

Operators previously took a variety of steps to protect the plants from water.

Say the words “water” and “nuclear power plants” in the same sentence and you are bound to draw a crowd.

Rachel Maddow did a segment on the Nebraska situation Wednesday night. To see it, click here.

The Lincoln-Journal Star submitted a list of relevant questions, and received answers from operators at both plants. In a thoroughly informatory story, Al Laukaitis reported on the central issues involving the plants and public concern, including this one:

Q: People see photos of Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station surrounded by water and dikes near Cooper Nuclear Station being overtopped near Brownville. Are these plants at risk from the Missouri River floods?

OPPD: If you look closely in the photos, our plant, [Fort Calhoun] our substation and other buildings are dry behind berms, sandbag walls and AquaDams. The plant is secure from water to the 1,014 feet above sea level elevation (the river is now at 1,006). It also has diesel generators and additional fuel staged to provide power from on site.

NPPD: There have been at least five situations of flooding around the Brownville area since 1952, and Cooper Nuclear Station, which has experienced several floods since it began commercial operation in 1974, was built to withstand various natural disasters, including tornadoes and earthquakes. The site was elevated 13 feet above the natural grade to 903 feet sea level elevation to accommodate the maximum, probable flooding event. (Earlier this week floodwaters came within 18 inches of 902 feet -- the mark at which Cooper would be shut down.)

Earlier this week a Cooper spokesman told Nebraska Watchdog that a shutdown, if one were needed, would occur over a period of 4-10 hours although it could occur “within three seconds” if necessary. The spokesman said there is no fear of a meltdown because Cooper “would be operating with power from off-site sources that would run the pumps and other equipment necessary to keep the reactor and spent fuel storage facility with cooling water.”

OPPD established a web page to address flood rumors related to Fort Calhoun. Access that page here.

The NPPD web page, though not as informative, is here.