Thread: Nebraska Residents in No Danger After Floods Hit Nuke Plant

Nebraska Residents in No Danger After Floods Hit Nuke Plant

Waters Breach Berm at Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station

By DAVID KERLEY (@David_Kerley) , MICHAEL S. JAMES and KEVIN DOLAK

MINOT, N.D., June 27, 2011

The head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been dispatched to a nuclear power plant in Fort Calhoun, Neb., where a berm collapsed Sunday, but the public is in no danger, officials said.

The breach allowed Missouri River flood waters to reach containment buildings and transformers and forcing the shutdown of electrical power.

Backup generators are cooling the nuclear material at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station.

The plant has not operated since April, and officials say there is no danger to the public.

Jeff Hanson, a spokesman for the Omaha Public Power District, told The Associated Press that the breached berm wasn't critical to protecting the plant, although a crew will look at whether it can be patched.

"That was an additional layer of protection we put in," Hanson said.

Nevertheless, federal inspectors are on the scene.

Meanwhile, there was no protecting thousands of homes in Minot, N.D., where flooding of the Souris River hit its peak today, flooding more than 4,000 homes, including Leslie Dull's.

"When you actually see your house," Dull said, "and you know it's not just your basement, it's your whole house, it's ...

"I'm sorry," she said, as she broke down crying.

There is some good news: The river in Minot peaked two feet lower than expected. But it is nearly 13 feet above flood stage and it is expected to stay near that level for days.

"It could be two to four to six weeks, or more, before the water actually goes back into its banks ... [and] before [residents] get to come and see their houses," Brig. Gen. Bill Seekins of the North Dakota National Guard told ABC News during a tour through the flooded areas.

ABC News
A berm holding the flooded Missouri River... View Full Size

ABC News
A berm holding the flooded Missouri River back from a Nebraska nuclear power station collapsed early Sunday, June 26, 2011, but federal regulators said they were monitoring the situation and there was no danger.

Flood Danger at Nuclear Plant? Watch Video
Minot Struggles with Record Breaking Floods Watch Video
Record Flood in North Dakota Watch Video
Seekins described the scene as "almost apocalyptic."

Sgt. Dave Dodds of the North Dakota National Guard said heavy rains from Saturday will keep the river at its historic crest for longer than expected.

"Authorities were hoping for maybe a day or two before it started to recede, but you can add maybe an additional 24 hours onto that," Dodds said.

Minot Mayor Curt Zimbelman said the devastation may be even greater than expected.

"I think we're going to reach probably 4,500 [homes] before this is all done, where we've got a lot of water on these homes," Zimbelman said.

Randy Nelson and his wife just bought a camper, knowing their house is flooded. They are living in a shopping center parking lot, powerless to do anything but wait.

He said the hardest part is "patience ... not knowing where you are going to live. It's tough."

But there have been victories. ABC News watched Koni Aho race to build a berm around her restaurant down river from Minot. Twenty-four hours later there was still no water in the restaurant.

"I was bound and determined," she said. "I don't care. I said, 'It's just dirt. We can move it.'"

Forecasters said scattered storms were in today's forecast, but the worst part of the storm will likely to be south and east of the Souris River Basin.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

Officials were building and re-enforcing levees in the towns of Sawyer and Velvenau in fear that all the water that has been coming through Minot will swamp the two towns.

As residents and officials brace for the worst, acts of generosity were seen throughout the community.

Garages were turned into storage units for flood victims and families and churches opened their doors to other displaced community members.

"For the rest of the country, that is kind of mind-boggling. But ... that's how we are in North Dakota," Sen. John Hoeven told the Associated Press.

Evangelical Lutheran pastor Mike Johnson said he was too preoccupied with helping other people that he wasn't sure about the condition of his belongings after being evacuated from the flood zone the previous week.

But Lutherans in a neighboring town stepped in and took care of his files and equipment in his office.

"They just showed up on Tuesday and carted stuff off for us," Johnson told the Associated Press.

ABC News' Gerard McNiff and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/nebraska-resid ... d=13932406

DOJ News Release

Flooding Travel Advisory in North Dakota

(Monday, June 27, 2011)

Portal, N.D. - U.S. Customs and Border Protection is advising the traveling public that all commercial and passenger vehicles traveling in western North Dakota and southeastern Saskatchewan may be required to use alternate ports of entry because of extensive flooding and local road closures. All U.S. ports of entry remain open at this time.

Currently closed or flooded highways leading to U.S. ports of entry are as follows:

Highway 39 is currently closed from Estevan, Saskatchewan to the border at Portal, North Dakota. Commercial traffic can utilize the 24-hour ports of Dunseith, North Dakota to the east of Portal and Raymond, Montana to the west of Portal as alternate travel routes. Passenger traffic should monitor State and Provincial road condition websites for the safest route to U.S. ports of entry.

Highway 47 is currently closed from Estevan, Saskatchewan to the border at Noonan, North Dakota. Passenger traffic should monitor State and Provincial road condition websites for the safest route to U.S. ports of entry.

Highway 9 is currently closed from Oxbow, Saskatchewan to the border at Northgate, North Dakota. Commercial carries with valid permits for the Northgate port of entry may utilize the Sherwood port of entry, the Fortuna port of entry or any of the 24-hour commercial ports of entry. Passenger traffic should monitor State and Provincial road condition websites for the safest route to U.S. ports of entry.

Highway 350 is currently closed from Torquay, Saskatchewan to the border at Ambrose, North Dakota. Passenger traffic should monitor State and Provincial road condition websites for the safest route to U.S. ports of entry.

For the most up to date road conditions and road closures please visit the following web sites ( www.dot.nd.gov ) for North Dakota, ( www.highways.gov.sk.ca ) for Saskatchewan and ( http://www.mdt.mt.gov ) for Montana.

For more information on port hours and wait times please visit the CBP web site at ( www.cbp.gov ) .

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Contacts For This News Release
Chris Misson
CBP Public Affairs
Phone: (701) 825-6551 Ext: 229

http://www.justice.gov/dea/pubs/states/ ... 62211.html

Nebraska nuclear plants safe despite flooding, official says

NRC chairman visits facilities day after temporary berm collapses

updated 2 hours 50 minutes ago

BLAIR, Neb. — The nation's top nuclear power regulator said Monday that both of Nebraska's nuclear power plants have remained safe as they battle floodwaters from the bloated Missouri River.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko visited both Fort Calhoun and Cooper nuclear power plants in eastern Nebraska this week to see how the utilities that run them are coping with the flooding. Both plants sit on the river.

The Omaha Public Power District's Fort Calhoun is the subject of more public concern because the floodwaters have surrounded that plant and forced workers to use elevated catwalks to access the facility. Nebraska Public Power District's Cooper plant is more elevated.

Jaczko's visit to Fort Calhoun Monday came one day after an 8-foot-tall, water-filled temporary berm protecting the plant collapsed early Sunday. Vendor workers were at the plant Monday to determine whether the 2,000 foot berm can be repaired.

"We don't believe the plant is posing an immediate threat to the health and safety of the public," Jaczko said.
Video: Despite floods, Nebraska nuke plants deemed safe (on this page)
Omaha Public Power District spokesman Jeff Hanson said pumps at Fort Calhoun were handling the problem and that "everything is secure and safe." The plant, about 20 miles north of Omaha, has been closed for refueling since April. Hanson said the berm's collapse didn't affect the shutdown or the spent fuel pool cooling.

Either floodwaters from the Missouri River or groundwater seeped into several of the peripheral buildings at Fort Calhoun, but plant manager Tim Nellenbach said all of the areas containing radioactive material or crucial safety gear remained dry.

Jaczko said the Army Corps of Engineers doesn't expect the river to rise enough to cause additional significant problems at either of the nuclear plants in Nebraska.

"Bottom line, it looks like the levels are going to be at a place where the plant should be able to deal with it," Jaczko said.
Story: Flood waters stop rising in Minot, N.D.
Flooding remains a concern all along the Missouri because of massive amounts of water the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released from upstream reservoirs. The river is expected to rise as much as 5 to 7 feet above flood stage in much of Nebraska and Iowa and as much as 10 feet over flood stage in parts of Missouri.

The corps expects the river to remain high at least into August because of heavy spring rains in the upper Plains and substantial Rocky Mountain snowpack melting into the river basin.

Both nuclear plants issued flooding alerts earlier this month, although they were routine as the river's rise has been expected.

The main building at Fort Calhoun is at 1,004 feet above sea level, which is about 2 feet below the level of the Missouri River. That's why floodwaters have been able to get so close to the plant.

The main building complex at Fort Calhoun is surrounded by floodwaters at least 2 feet deep, and employees use an elevated catwalk more than a quarter-mile-long each day to cross the flooded parking lot. But the utility has been able to keep the inside of its buildings and key equipment mostly dry with a network of flood barriers and a number of pumps.

Fort Calhoun workers can remain dry when walking into the plant, but OPPD has invested in about 300 life jackets and a couple hundred pairs of waders for times when employees must enter the water to check a flood barrier or build more scaffolding. Boats are also used to ferry equipment around the complex.

OPPD officials say Fort Calhoun is designed to be protected from floodwaters up to 1,014 feet above sea level — that's about 8 feet higher than the river's current level. And the latest prediction from the Corps of Engineers is that the river won't rise more than 2 feet above its current level near Fort Calhoun.

Jaczko inspected the Cooper Nuclear Station, which sits on the Missouri River about 75 miles south of Omaha, on Sunday. He asked plant officials and the NRC's local inspectors questions about the plant and this year's flooding.

The plant, which is owned by Nebraska Public Power District, remains dry because it sits at an elevation above the river and continues to operate at full capacity. The base of Cooper and its storage area for used nuclear fuel is 903 feet above sea level. The river was 900.2 feet above sea level early Monday.

One of the biggest threats to the safety of any nuclear power plant would be a prolonged loss of electrical power because the plants need to be able to continue pumping water over the radioactive fuel to keep it cool.

A key factor in the disaster at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi facility earlier this year was the loss of all off-site power and emergency generators after the earthquake and tsunami struck.

Fort Calhoun has at least nine backup power sources in place, including six different power lines and two diesel generators, which were just tested Sunday after the failure of the water-filled berm.

"There is little to no chance of anything like Fukushima happening here," Nellenbach said.

OPPD officials and Jaczko said the fact that Fort Calhoun has been shut down since April helps make the plant significantly safer during the flooding because the radioactive fuel has been cooling off since then.

"The risk is really very low at this point that anything could go wrong," Jaczko said.

Cooper also has two main lines of outside power, at least three generators on site and a battery system that can power the plant in an emergency.

Officials with the NRC and the Nebraska utilities have said that one of the key differences between the Fukushima disaster and the Missouri River flooding is that the river flooding has progressed slowly and the utilities had several weeks to prepare.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43540933/ns ... vironment/

Video: Despite floods, Nebraska nuke plants deemed safe
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43540933/ns ... vironment/

Nebraska nuclear plant safe, says owner, but rumors abound

Mon, 2011-06-27 07:57 AM
By: Mark Rockwell

The owners of a nuclear power plant in Nebraska who are working to protect the plant from rising flood waters are also fighting rumors about its safety.

Although owners and workers at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station have been preparing for the rising Missouri River flood waters for days, on June 26 a worker at the plant accidentally punctured a water-filled protection berm at the site, forcing it to switch to backup generator power and go into “cold shutdown,’ according to the owners of the plant, Omaha Public Power District (OPPD). The station is about 20 miles north of Omaha, located about 25 feet from the flooding Missouri River, which is running about two and a half feet above levees in the area.

The berm’s failure, said OPPD, resulted in the release of about 100 gallons of petroleum into the river as fuel containers were washed out to the river. “The fuel/oil containers were staged around the facility to supply fuel for pumps which remove water within the flood containment barriers,â€

Flooding in Minot, ND, triggers federal and local response

Mon, 2011-06-27 12:44 PM
By: Jacob Goodwin

The increased flow of water from reservoirs in Canada into Lake Darling in North Dakota, which have reached record levels, are causing severe flooding in Minot, ND and Ward County.

“Water is flowing from Canada to Minot faster than ever recorded due to record water levels upstream causing shorter than normal travel time to Minot,â€

Rumor check: Will flooding affect Callaway Nuclear Plant?
by Dori Olmos
Posted: 06.28.2011 at 2:57 PM

CALLAWAY COUNTY, MO -- Rising flood waters along the Missouri River are pushing closer to two nuclear plants in Nebraska. So what if the river jumps its banks in Jefferson City? Would the Callaway Nuclear Plant be at risk?

To Scott Bond, the answer is simple… no.

“Three-fourths of [the state of] Missouri would have to be under water for it to be affected,â€

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