Thom Hartmann: Nuclear Power - We almost Lost Nebraska

Run time: 04:47 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NidxieeUl4   Posted on YouTube: June 21, 2011 By YouTube Member: TheBigPictureRT Views on YouTube: 302   Posted on DU: June 21, 2011 By DU Member: thomhartmann Views on DU: 1747

 
After the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe in Japan - a lot of people wondered out loud just what the hell the Japanese were doing building nuclear power plants along the coast of an area prone to earthquakes and tsunamis. It’s as though they were just asking for this to happen - who could have been so stupid?? Surely - here in the United States we're a lot more careful with where we build OUR nuclear plants right?? Well…no. The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant just outside Omaha, Nebraska is completely surrounded by water. But I suppose that’s what happens when you build a nuclear plant right in the middle of the flood plain of the Missouri River. Flood waters from the rising Missouri River have settled at a foot and a half ABOVE where the plant sits - and the only thing stopping Fort Calhoun from flooding just like Fukushima flooded is a six-foot high rubber wall surrounding the plant. But that’s not the only nuclear power plant in danger. Just down the river in southeast Nebraska - the Cooper Nuclear Plant - is also on the verge of flooding out

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I doubt whomever unrecced this thread even watched the video.

has used the FAA to make it a no fly zone (just like the BP oil spill) to keep the bad publicity down.

more support for the nuke industry.

The risk of observing news crews running helicopters or planes into each other over the site is unacceptably high. It has happened before over different types of news sources. The FAA gave that reason days ago, Hartman should know.

The first site shown is in cold shutdown for maintenence. They shut it down in April, and didn't bring it online because they knew the flooding could happen.

Calhoun isn't flooded yet, and has been shutdown. A fukushima like event can't happen at either as a result.


HOWEVER.

A fukushima like event could happen, if a dam upstream of Calhoun failed, suprise-innundating Calhoun with a wall of water. An event that takes these older reactors from hot operation, directly to offline with no cooling, is bad times.

For that, I do support phasing out the older plants. Absolutely. Even the Mark 1 containments failed in Fukushima.

It would just be Iowa, Missouri, and points below the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.

of that in the river system is enervating enough.

And all the crops in Iowa and Illinois.

Or we can keep rolling the dice to see if we survive this flood or that earthquake.

is this supposed to be a case of no news is good news? Are we supposed to ignore the mendacious man behind the curtain?

Who bets we won't get any status reports about this? Who bets we'll be told 'nothing to see here, move along'?