Nebraska nuclear reactor dry though surrounded by flood

David Hendee in Reuters recaps the official assurances, but I am not filled with confidence about the sandbags protecting spent fuel rods from the rising water: The Fort Calhoun nuclear power station in Nebraska remains shut down due to Missouri River flooding, but the plant itself has not flooded and is expected to remain safe, the federal government said Friday. The rising river "has certainly affected the site, but the plant itself, the actual reactor is still dry," said Scott Burnell, Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman.

The 478-megawatt plant north of Omaha shut April 9 to refuel, and has remained shut because of the flooding, said Omaha Public Power District spokesman Jeff Hanson. "When the river reaches 1,004 feet above mean sea level, we shut down," said Hanson. "We don't have any idea when we'll be able to start again."

The Missouri River, swollen by heavy rains and melting snow, has been flooding areas from Montana through Missouri. Residents have been shoring up levees around towns as federal officials widen flood gates to allow record or near-record water releases to ease pressure on reservoirs.

The Fort Calhoun station is owned and operated by the Omaha Public Power District and supplies power to Nebraska's largest city. Contractors at the plant have completed construction of an earthen berm around the plant's switch yard and are protecting the plant and other facilities with large temporary structures filled with water.

According to the NRC's Burnell, the added flood barriers will protect the plant even if the river rises beyond where it is currently projected to go. Within that flood barrier, the plant has taken steps to provide additional protection for emergency diesel generators, Burnell said….

Aerial views of the Missouri River in the Bismarck-Mandan, North Dakota area June 8, 2011. The photos were taken from a North Dakota National Guard (UH-60) Black Hawk. The upstream Garrison Dam is releasing water into the Missouri River at a flow of 140,000 cubic feet per second (cfs). North Dakota National Guard photo by Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license