The 2000 foot long aqua berm holding back the Missouri River flood waters at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant collapsed at 1:30 AM on June 26th. The berm (portion shown above at Ft. Calhoun) is a water filled liner. Power is now being supplied by emergency generators after the main transformers were shut down due to the breach.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has confirmed flooding around two buildings at the plant but it will have no affect on the reactor shutdown cooling or the spent fuel pool cooling. The plant was already shut down for maintenance.
No current pictures of the facility are available due to the no fly zone order by the FAA:
https://ncrenegade.com//editorial/no-fly-zone-over-fort-calhoun-nuclear-plant-due-to-hazards/
David DeGerolamo
Flood berm collapses at Nebraska nuclear plant
A berm holding the flooded Missouri River back from a Nebraska nuclear power station collapsed early Sunday, but federal regulators said they were monitoring the situation and there was no danger.
The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station shut down in early April for refueling, and there is no water inside the plant, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said. Also, the river is not expected to rise higher than the level the plant was designed to handle. NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said the plant remains safe.
The federal commission had inspectors at the plant 20 miles north of Omaha when the 2,000-foot berm collapsed about 1:30 a.m. Sunday. Water surrounded the auxiliary and containment buildings at the plant, it said in a statement.
The Omaha Public Power District has said the complex will not be reactivated until the flooding subsides. Its spokesman, Jeff Hanson, said the berm wasn’t critical to protecting the plant but a crew will look at whether it can be patched.
“That was an additional layer of protection we put in,” Hanson said.
The berm’s collapse didn’t affect the reactor shutdown cooling or the spent fuel pool cooling, but the power supply was cut after water surrounded the main electrical transformers, the NRC said. Emergency generators powered the plant Sunday while workers tried to restore power.
Remember the Fukushima desaster? How long will the diesel generators run? Can they supply diesel, as it will not last forever? I really think it’s time for a change, that using nuclear power will destroy more than it ever protected in means by not emitting carbondioxide.
Fort Calhoun is currently shut down for refueling. The real story here is the Fort Peck Dam. If this dam fails, we won’t have to worry about Fort Calhoun or Cooper Nuclear Station:
https://ncrenegade.com//editorial/fort-peck-dam-statistics-from-the-government/
I have been covering this story for weeks because I had a very strong feeling this was going to happen, where are the government warnings of a potential imminent nuclear disaster? Who would of thought flooding in the middle of the state could maybe cause the same problem as over in Japan. This is a good example of why we need renewable energy and I hope soon people will start to care about it where i live (5 miles from a nuclear plant) for virginia alternative energy and virginia renewable energy solutions. The power was cut to the station today, the transformers were flooded.The media is silent, even in the wake of Fukushima.
Recent MSNBC pic of Calhoun plant.
http://www.rense.com/general94/newst.htm