Flood test not over for nuke plant (Fort Calhoun, Ne.)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110627/NEWS01/706279901#flood-test-not-over-for-nuke-plant

ONLY IN THE WORLD-HERALD
By Nancy Gaarder and Sam Womack
World-Herald Staff Writers

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The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station is 19 miles north of Omaha. Water now surrounds the auxiliary and containment buildings, which are designed to handle flooding up to 1,014 feet above sea level. The river is at 1,006.3 feet and isn't forecast to exceed 1,008 feet.
Kent Sievers/The World-Herald


Two outside lines of defense against flooding failed Sunday at Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station, shifting the plant to backup electricity for 12 hours.

On Monday, the Omaha Public Power District was studying whether it could patch and refill the temporary water dam that burst. When the dam ruptured, it allowed floodwater to fill in around the plant to a depth of more than two feet, said OPPD spokesman Jeff Hanson.

Sunday's development offers more evidence that the relentlessly rising Missouri River is testing the flood-worthiness of an American nuclear power plant like never before. The now-idle plant, 19 miles north of Omaha, has become an island. And unlike other plants previously affected by high water, Fort Calhoun faces months of flooding.

Also on Monday, the head of the nation's nuclear regulatory agency, his lieutenants and congressional representatives toured the plant.

“It's pretty jarring to see a boat tied up to the nuclear power plant. ... It's an intense operation going on there, particularly with water surrounding all the buildings,” said U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry. “There's no water inside; they have multiple, redundant systems in place.”

The plant disconnected from the electrical grid Sunday morning and ran on electricity supplied by its main, on-site backup source: two diesel-fueled generators. Federal regulators require nuclear plants to have generators to keep a plant running in case its main power source is interrupted.

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