Citizen group wants Neb. nuke plant to stay closed
The Clean Nebraska group said Wednesday that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's own assessment of the flood threat at the plant about 20 miles north of Omaha predicts all major equipment at Fort Calhoun would be flooded if the Oahe dam on the Missouri River failed. The Clean Nebraska group argues that the flood threat is more pressing because the NRC estimates that dam failure could create floodwaters 46 feet higher than Fort Calhoun is prepared to handle.
The NRC memo said the failure of the Oahe dam on the border with South Dakota could create flooding as high as 1,060 feet above sea level at Fort Calhoun. This analysis of the worst-possible flood threat at Fort Calhoun was done in response to last summer's record flooding. The record flooding last summer reached as high as 1,006 feet above sea level at Fort Calhoun, but the Omaha Public Power District has planned to handle flooding up to 1,014 feet above sea level.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials have said there is no timeline for restarting the plant, and they won't allow Fort Calhoun to resume generating electricity until they are certain it is safe.
Let us posit that the Omaha Nebraska nuclear reactor and spent fuel storage would be hit with a 100' wall of water. Let us assume a water velocity of 60 MPH, as a 1st approximation, at impact.
It would take an undertaker to paint a pretty face on that corpse.
In the case of a dam failure; we don't have to worry about the backup generators to provide the pumping for the coolant water.
In submerging the reactor and spent fuel pool under 46 feet of water, the flooding of the reactor complex by the breached dam(s) will provide the reactor complex with all the coolant water it needs.
For a SHORT period of time, the containment vessel will be submerged in water and mud. Pehaps the physical components will remain connected and relatively intact.
Water would temporarily cool, while the mud would insulate.
When the water receded, away from the containment vessel, the reactor would quickly heat up, under any operational configuration.
(CNN) -- A dam on an eastern Iowa lake suffered a "catastrophic" failure Saturday, sending a massive amount of water into nearby communities and forcing residents to flee, officials said.
The Lake Delhi dam, about 45 miles north of Cedar Rapids, failed as a result of "massive rain -- a very unusually high amount this season," according to Jim Flansburg, communications director for Gov. Chet Culver.
Due to a recent post, this thread has come back up to the top of the stack.
Almost a year later, we can see all the hysterical predictions of how dangerous the Fort Calhoun flooding problem was going to be.
Now that emergency is long past; and once again we see that the anti-nukes made a mountain out of a mole-hill in their continual quest to "fear monger" a gullible public.
Please, people get educated so that you can't be stampeded into bad decisions and bad opinions by those "fear mongers" who are not interested in getting good accurate information to you. Their quest is to scare the Hell out of you, so that you will be so gullible as to accept their fear mongering as fact.
This ‘20/400’ (legally blind) guy has been making molehills out of mountains. The flooding hazards are quite real, and will require EXTENSIVE improvements at the site, dams and beyond.
Bernard Shanks, an adviser to the Resource Renewal Institute, has studied the six main-stem Missouri River dams for more than four decades. He has worked for the U.S. Geological Survey and served as director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. He has written three books on public land policy and is completing a book on the hazards of the Missouri River dams.
There is very real threat of a flood that will leave St. Louis in chest-high water. The reason: Six old, huge, faulty dams that normally have reserve space for spring snow melt are nearly full now — before the spring floods start. Six dams from Fort Peck in Montana to Gavins Point in South Dakota, authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1944, are in the process of failing at flood control. Let me give you a sense of scale. These reservoirs are massive. Four of the nation's 10 largest reservoirs are along the Missouri River — Fort Peck, Fort Randall, Garrison and Oahe. Three of these had less than five feet of total storage space behind the floodgates at the end of May. With a combined height of 700 feet, these three dams are nearly full. Melting snow surely will complete the task.
The greatest fear is the massive Fort Peck Dam, a hydraulic-fill dam that is the largest of its kind. The Fort Peck Dam is built with a flawed design that has suffered a well-known fate for this type of dam — liquefaction — in which saturated soil loses its stability. Hydraulic-fill dams are prone to almost instant collapse from stress or earthquakes. California required all hydraulic-fill dams be torn out or rebuilt — and no other large dams have been built this way since.
What if Fort Peck Dam should fail? Here is a likely scenario: Garrison, Oahe and three other downstream earthen dams would have to catch and hold a massive amount of water, an area covering nearly 250 square miles 100 feet deep. But earthen dams, when overtopped with floodwater, do not stand. They break and erode away, usually within an hour. All are full. There is a possibility a failure of Fort Peck Dam could lead to a domino-like collapse of all five downstream dams.
Submitted by Yogi Bear (not verified) on Wed, 2011-06-15 09:53.
Homer can get the ball rolling and when things go pear shaped and underwater Homer can hand off to Sponge Bob. IT WOULD WORK !!! (Don't let captain nemo near it - he would blow it up just to wake up the flatlanders....)
Water storage specialist introduces precast reservoir onto SA market
Water storage solution specialist Aquadam, under license to European company Farmitec, will soon introduce what it believes to be the first and only, prestressed and post-tensioned reservoir, the Muleby system tank IA, onto the South African market.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2011-06-15 07:50.
Level 4 and a no fly zone instituted, yet a google search for the most current news about it will result in pretty much zip, 'cept Hawaii Daily: http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/2011/06/nebraska-nuclear-plant-at-level-4-dis...
Nothing reported on the radio news channel I listen to.
The lack of information about important events is downright creepy.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2011-06-15 08:10.
Last night local Omaha news did a story, this story was on their web page earlier this morning, but has been removed from their search engine. But still comes up on a google search. The article says that they have flooded the containment to cool the fuel? Video shows the plant is completely surrounded with water with water expected to rise another foot in the next week. Here is the link to the article and video. The reporter was taken up in a farmer's private plane. Wild!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2011-06-15 08:18.
Thank you, people, for the info. Right now it seems we only have each other to depend upon to stay up to date, sharing news and links.
I contacted some local (L.A. area) news stations inquiring why there is no reporting / investigation about this potentially critical story. Next, will be the major networks. Not holding my breath tho.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2011-06-15 09:28.
I wrote to the reporter who wrote the article on WOWT tv's website about flooding the containment. This was his response, what do you think?
Gary Smollen to me
show details 12:21 PM (4 minutes ago)
The containment building is a water tight part of the facility. The spent rods are exchanged every 18 months and flooding the building with de-mineralized water is a part of the process. Jeff Hanson with OPPD told me they have the pumps and the reverse osmosis process have multiple redundant features placed high above the level the river is expected/predicted to reach. The plant is currently offline and in "cool" mode - the water keeping the fuel rods at 80 degrees if memory serves. I do not believe the rods have not been exchanged but I am not certain on that point.
The Ft. Calhoun plant does have power but is not producing any power.
Lynne, I get the sense that you are more familiar with the procedures than I am and would hate for a failed memory or an improperly worded response to cause you any undue concern. When I get into work today I will listen to the interview with Mr. Hanson again and can call or email you to answer any questions you may have.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2011-06-15 10:10.
"I get the sense that you are more familiar with the procedures than I am and would hate for a failed memory or an improperly worded response to cause you any undue concern." Sounds like good journalism. I wonder why the folks with blogs and aggregate websites don't feel the same way about causing their reader undue concern based on potentially faulty information.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2011-06-15 10:03.
He sounds earnest. Being closer to the source and already reporting on the story, ya like to think he'll have ongoing current info. Thanks so much for your efforts, Lynne.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2011-06-15 10:14.
He does sound earnest. No other media in Iowa is reporting on this. In fact, if you read his email closely, he hasn't gone into work yet this morning. Will he be surprised that his tv station removed his article from their own search engine?
46 FEET underwater
The “NRC estimates that dam failure could create floodwaters 46 feet higher than Fort Calhoun is prepared to handle”
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-09-26/citizen-group-wants-neb-dot-nu...
Citizen group wants Neb. nuke plant to stay closed
The Clean Nebraska group said Wednesday that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's own assessment of the flood threat at the plant about 20 miles north of Omaha predicts all major equipment at Fort Calhoun would be flooded if the Oahe dam on the Missouri River failed. The Clean Nebraska group argues that the flood threat is more pressing because the NRC estimates that dam failure could create floodwaters 46 feet higher than Fort Calhoun is prepared to handle.
The NRC memo said the failure of the Oahe dam on the border with South Dakota could create flooding as high as 1,060 feet above sea level at Fort Calhoun. This analysis of the worst-possible flood threat at Fort Calhoun was done in response to last summer's record flooding. The record flooding last summer reached as high as 1,006 feet above sea level at Fort Calhoun, but the Omaha Public Power District has planned to handle flooding up to 1,014 feet above sea level.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials have said there is no timeline for restarting the plant, and they won't allow Fort Calhoun to resume generating electricity until they are certain it is safe.
Cascade Failure
The nuclear plant would be 46 FEET underwater following a single dam failure.
What IF the Fort Peck, Montana dam is breached; creating a cascade failure of the lower three dams.
http://www.usbr.gov/pmts/hydraulics_lab/twahl/breach/breach_links.html
Let us posit that the Omaha Nebraska nuclear reactor and spent fuel storage would be hit with a 100' wall of water. Let us assume a water velocity of 60 MPH, as a 1st approximation, at impact.
It would take an undertaker to paint a pretty face on that corpse.
Terrorist Threat Assessment
Threat Assessment … CRITICAL
The dumbest cadet in an average high school JROTC program could ‘blow’ any of these dams.
I do not recall EVER meeting a single JROTC cadet that could not ‘get-her-done’, by several methods.
Condition RED!
IMHO
At least the water is a coolant...
In the case of a dam failure; we don't have to worry about the backup generators to provide the pumping for the coolant water.
In submerging the reactor and spent fuel pool under 46 feet of water, the flooding of the reactor complex by the breached dam(s) will provide the reactor complex with all the coolant water it needs.
For a SHORT period
For a SHORT period of time, the containment vessel will be submerged in water and mud. Pehaps the physical components will remain connected and relatively intact.
Water would temporarily cool, while the mud would insulate.
When the water receded, away from the containment vessel, the reactor would quickly heat up, under any operational configuration.
The desperate saga begins ...
Dam Failures happen
Dams FAIL, deal with it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uNncq_KkLc
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/24/iowa.dam.breach/index.html
(CNN) -- A dam on an eastern Iowa lake suffered a "catastrophic" failure Saturday, sending a massive amount of water into nearby communities and forcing residents to flee, officials said.
The Lake Delhi dam, about 45 miles north of Cedar Rapids, failed as a result of "massive rain -- a very unusually high amount this season," according to Jim Flansburg, communications director for Gov. Chet Culver.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=3uNncq_KkLc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=fvwp&v=bfW5MqT7CSA
20/20 Hindsight
Due to a recent post, this thread has come back up to the top of the stack.
Almost a year later, we can see all the hysterical predictions of how dangerous the Fort Calhoun flooding problem was going to be.
Now that emergency is long past; and once again we see that the anti-nukes made a mountain out of a mole-hill in their continual quest to "fear monger" a gullible public.
Please, people get educated so that you can't be stampeded into bad decisions and bad opinions by those "fear mongers" who are not interested in getting good accurate information to you. Their quest is to scare the Hell out of you, so that you will be so gullible as to accept their fear mongering as fact.
Making molehills out of MOUNTAINS
Making molehills out of MOUNTAINS
This ‘20/400’ (legally blind) guy has been making molehills out of mountains. The flooding hazards are quite real, and will require EXTENSIVE improvements at the site, dams and beyond.
One SERIOUSLY DANGEROUS LIAR wrote (20/20 Hindsight) Anonymous on Sun, 2012-04-22 11:41.
http://www.nuc.berkeley.edu/node/4612#comment-24713
Perhaps we shall choose to calmly review the flooding hazards at length, absent lying.
Turning the clock back to Spring 2011
“A failure of Fort Peck Dam could lead to a domino-like collapse of all five downstream dams.”
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/article_2b1eeca2-e701-51dd-83c2-f7b...
Guest commentary: The looming Missouri dam flood
By Bernard Shanks June 07, 2011 12:00 am
Bernard Shanks, an adviser to the Resource Renewal Institute, has studied the six main-stem Missouri River dams for more than four decades. He has worked for the U.S. Geological Survey and served as director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. He has written three books on public land policy and is completing a book on the hazards of the Missouri River dams.
There is very real threat of a flood that will leave St. Louis in chest-high water. The reason: Six old, huge, faulty dams that normally have reserve space for spring snow melt are nearly full now — before the spring floods start. Six dams from Fort Peck in Montana to Gavins Point in South Dakota, authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1944, are in the process of failing at flood control. Let me give you a sense of scale. These reservoirs are massive. Four of the nation's 10 largest reservoirs are along the Missouri River — Fort Peck, Fort Randall, Garrison and Oahe. Three of these had less than five feet of total storage space behind the floodgates at the end of May. With a combined height of 700 feet, these three dams are nearly full. Melting snow surely will complete the task.
The greatest fear is the massive Fort Peck Dam, a hydraulic-fill dam that is the largest of its kind. The Fort Peck Dam is built with a flawed design that has suffered a well-known fate for this type of dam — liquefaction — in which saturated soil loses its stability. Hydraulic-fill dams are prone to almost instant collapse from stress or earthquakes. California required all hydraulic-fill dams be torn out or rebuilt — and no other large dams have been built this way since.
What if Fort Peck Dam should fail? Here is a likely scenario: Garrison, Oahe and three other downstream earthen dams would have to catch and hold a massive amount of water, an area covering nearly 250 square miles 100 feet deep. But earthen dams, when overtopped with floodwater, do not stand. They break and erode away, usually within an hour. All are full. There is a possibility a failure of Fort Peck Dam could lead to a domino-like collapse of all five downstream dams.
Tag team
Homer can get the ball rolling and when things go pear shaped and underwater Homer can hand off to Sponge Bob. IT WOULD WORK !!! (Don't let captain nemo near it - he would blow it up just to wake up the flatlanders....)
On second thought.... 'calling captain nemo'
Google news search brings up quite a bit
http://news.google.com/news?q=Nebraska+Nuclear+Plant%3A+Emergency+Level+...
haven't analyzed it yet but it raises again the same revolting/disturbing issue of insufficient safety planning at the plant
Who built that Nebraska AquaDam?
Was it AREVA? Now a similar 'solution' is being offered as a water balloon Tunnel Defense.
Holding Back Floodwaters With a Balloon
More ‘great engineering moments’ to add to: Fukushima, HMS Titanic and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2011/06/24/24climatewire-a-nuclear-plants-f...
http://www.businessinsider.com/waters-pour-through-bursted-berm-at-nebra...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230431440457641185303873966...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/20/science/creating-a-balloonlike-plug-to...
A water-filled berm protecting the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant in Nebraska from the flooded Missouri River collapsed late last night,
Its collapse reportedly allowed water to surround the "auxiliary and containment buildings," the Associated Press reports.
A failed ‘solution’, looking for another market
There are virtually NO web references to AquaDam.
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/topic/aquadams-factory/page:6
Water storage specialist introduces precast reservoir onto SA market
Water storage solution specialist Aquadam, under license to European company Farmitec, will soon introduce what it believes to be the first and only, prestressed and post-tensioned reservoir, the Muleby system tank IA, onto the South African market.
By: Nomvelo Buthelezi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sTmzUzruu8
part 2
Level 4 and a no fly zone
Level 4 and a no fly zone instituted, yet a google search for the most current news about it will result in pretty much zip, 'cept Hawaii Daily:
http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/2011/06/nebraska-nuclear-plant-at-level-4-dis...
Nothing reported on the radio news channel I listen to.
The lack of information about important events is downright creepy.
Fort Calhoun - report last night on Wowt tv news and video
Last night local Omaha news did a story, this story was on their web page earlier this morning, but has been removed from their search engine. But still comes up on a google search. The article says that they have flooded the containment to cool the fuel? Video shows the plant is completely surrounded with water with water expected to rise another foot in the next week. Here is the link to the article and video. The reporter was taken up in a farmer's private plane. Wild!
http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Ft_Calhoun_Flood_Defenses_123878599.html
Video of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant
This video was taken by Wowt of Omaha.
http://brokenflask.com/2011/06/15/omaha4000ft-nuclear-plant-on-island-le...
Here is the video of the plane flight viewing Fort Calhoun plant
http://brokenflask.com/2011/06/15/omaha4000ft-nuclear-plant-on-island-le...
Thank you, people, for the
Thank you, people, for the info. Right now it seems we only have each other to depend upon to stay up to date, sharing news and links.
I contacted some local (L.A. area) news stations inquiring why there is no reporting / investigation about this potentially critical story. Next, will be the major networks. Not holding my breath tho.
Wowt reporter
I wrote to the reporter who wrote the article on WOWT tv's website about flooding the containment. This was his response, what do you think?
Gary Smollen to me
show details 12:21 PM (4 minutes ago)
The containment building is a water tight part of the facility. The spent rods are exchanged every 18 months and flooding the building with de-mineralized water is a part of the process. Jeff Hanson with OPPD told me they have the pumps and the reverse osmosis process have multiple redundant features placed high above the level the river is expected/predicted to reach. The plant is currently offline and in "cool" mode - the water keeping the fuel rods at 80 degrees if memory serves. I do not believe the rods have not been exchanged but I am not certain on that point.
The Ft. Calhoun plant does have power but is not producing any power.
Lynne, I get the sense that you are more familiar with the procedures than I am and would hate for a failed memory or an improperly worded response to cause you any undue concern. When I get into work today I will listen to the interview with Mr. Hanson again and can call or email you to answer any questions you may have.
Gary
"I get the sense that you
"I get the sense that you are more familiar with the procedures than I am and would hate for a failed memory or an improperly worded response to cause you any undue concern." Sounds like good journalism. I wonder why the folks with blogs and aggregate websites don't feel the same way about causing their reader undue concern based on potentially faulty information.
great observation!
great observation!
He sounds earnest. Being
He sounds earnest. Being closer to the source and already reporting on the story, ya like to think he'll have ongoing current info. Thanks so much for your efforts, Lynne.
reporter from wowt tv
He does sound earnest. No other media in Iowa is reporting on this. In fact, if you read his email closely, he hasn't gone into work yet this morning. Will he be surprised that his tv station removed his article from their own search engine?