Missouri River Floods Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Station in Nebraska

***UPDATE (June 27, 2011) - The below picture is reportedly from a June 27 video. If this is indeed the state of affairs at the power station, how are workers getting to the facility? Boat? Helicopter? There also does not appear to be anything holding back the water back at the facility. At least there is no smoking coming from the spent fuel or other reactor fuel at this point.

Per the official media accounts, there is nothing to worry about at this point. However, I'm skeptical, so yes, I'm worried.

Gregory Jaczko, the chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, toured the Cooper Nuclear Station in Brownville Sunday and inspected the more-threatened Fort Calhoun reactor Monday...

...Officials at both Cooper and Calhoun have reportedly stockpiled plenty of generator fuel for emergency generators if back up power is needed for a long period of time.

***UPDATE (June 17, 2011) - The original story is down below the***. I will update this page as I can verify information.

There is confirmation that Fort Calhoun is a spent fuel storage installation. It would seem likely that some (or perhaps all of the) spent fuel is flooded IF you believe the inspection report from May, 2011 (last month as of the date of this writing). Can anyone confirm whether the spent fuel was stored above ground or whether it was stored at ground/underground level?

You can read the full report (Licensee Event Report 2011-003, Revision 1, for the Fort Calhoun Station) that will be embedded below, but the summary is:

As a result of a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspection conducted from January 1 to June 21, 2010, the NRC determined that Fort Calhoun Station (FCS) did not have adequate procedures to protect the intake structure and auxiliary building against external flooding events. Specifically, contrary to Technical Specification 5.8.1.a, the station failed to maintain procedures for combating a significant flood as recommended by Regulatory Guide 1.33, Appendix A, section 6.w, “Acts of Nature.”

Per another recent report by the Institute for Policy Studies, the inventory of spent fuel at Fort Calhoun was:

• Total Assemblies = 1,054
• Metric Tons = 379
• Radioactive Inventory (Ci) = 92,962,800

Omaha Public Power District Licensee Event Report 2011-003, Revision 1, for the Fort Calhoun Station

I don't know if the next story is related or not, but officials in Kansas (the next State over from Nebraska) are advising people to not use the Missouri River. The given-reason is the risk of pathogens. However, the public would be the last ones to know if there was some type of radiation contamination from the Fort Calhoun plant.

In response to recent and anticipated flooding events, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is issuing a health advisory for all portions of the Missouri River in Kansas. In addition to the physical dangers associated with entering swift moving floodwaters, the potential for high levels of pathogens in the Missouri River exists. Pathogens can cause illness in humans and animals...

...Individuals are advised to avoid contact with the River and to restrict pets and livestock from contact with River water until the flooding conditions cease. It is predicted floodwaters may not recede for several weeks, thus it is important to avoid contact with the River until this advisory is lifted.

***

Is Fort Calhoun potentially going to be the United States version of Fukushima? The reactor is not really an issue here, because it is not operational. However, there is spent fuel stored at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Station, as evidenced by the reports of a recent fire at the power plant.

A small fire briefly knocked out the cooling system for used fuel at a nuclear power plant in Nebraska, but temperatures never exceeded safe levels and power was quickly restored, federal officials said Wednesday...

Fort Calhoun’s fuel pool was not physically damaged, and the utility [Omaha Public Power District] estimated it would take about 80 hours before the pool water started boiling and evaporating, giving workers time to react.

If the flooding continues (which is expected for a few more weeks), then what happens if the power and the backup power are not available for 4-5 days at the plant? Without cooling, the spent fuel will heat and evaporate the cooling water. Once that spent fuel goes critical and if cooling cannot be restored, then the plant will likely begin spewing radiation into the local environment and into the flooded river waters. That is what happened at Fukushima. The Japanese earthquake knocked out the main power systems. The subsequent tsunami destroyed the backup generators and then the spent fuel began heating and heating until BOOM!

Although the media is saying that there is no threat to the public from this flooding, there is an indefinite FAA flight restriction for two (2) nautical miles around the area.

FDC 1/6523 ZMP FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS FORT CALHOUN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT BLAIR,NE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. PURSUANT TO 14 CFR SECTION 91.137(A)(3) TEMPORARY FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS ARE IN EFFECT FOR FLOOD RELIEF EFFORTS WITHIN A 2 NAUTICAL MILE RADIUS OF 413113N/0960438W OR THE OMAHA /OVR/ VORTAC 316 DEGREE RADIAL AT 26.1 NAUTICAL MILES AT AND BELOW 3500 FEET MSL. NEBRASKA STATE PATROL, LT. FRANK PECK TELEPHONE 402-450-1867 IS IN CHARGE OF THE OPERATION. MINNEAPOLIS /ZMP/ ARTCC TELEPHONE 651-463-5580 IS THE FAA COORDINATION FACILITY.

Source: The Washington Post; FAA; KMTV