"Flood wall fails at Fort Calhoun"
An aerial view of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant in eastern Nebraska, surrounded by Missouri River flood waters June 24, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Lane HickenbottomThe Omaha World-Herald reports that the "Aqua dam" protecting vital areas at the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant against the historic flood on the Missouri River 20 miles north of Nebraska's largest city has collapsed. The 8 foot tall, berm shaped rubber wall, filled with water, has failed. It had been looked to as a major last line of defense to protect vital "systems, structures, and components" at the atomic reactors and its auxiliary buildings -- including the high-level radioactive waste storage pool. But even worse flooding is expected in the future. Meanwhile, as reported by Reuters, the Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Greg Jaczko, was scheduled to visit the Cooper atomic reactor south of Omaha today, followed by a helicopter survey of flooding on the Missouri and countermeasures upstream of the two Nebraska nuclear power plants. Jaczko is scheduled to visit Fort Calhoun on Monday. As the Nebraska Watchdog reports, just last year NRC busted Omaha Public Power District for vulnerability to flooding on the Missouri River; this likely has enhanced response capability in the current crisis, but as flood waters continue to rise, and with the failure of the Ft. Calhoun anti-flood rubber berm, the question remains, did it do so well enough?
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The Omaha World-Herald reports that Omaha Public Power District admits that the anti-flood water filled rubber berm (the "Aqua dam") failed "due to on-site activities." It is not clear yet, however, what type of utility activities caused the berm's accidental failure.
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The New York Times reports that "Fort Calhoun...came under increased pressure for a brief period on Sunday. Before dawn, a piece of heavy equipment nicked an eight-foot-high, 2,000 foot-long temporary rubber berm, and it deflated. Water also began to approach the electric switchyard, where grid power enters the complex, which prompted operators to cut themselves off from the grid and start up diesel generators." The article also reports on NRC Chairman Greg Jaczko's site visit to Cooper atomic reactor, to view the labyrinthine flood defenses hastily put in place in recent days; Jaczko visits Ft. Calhoun tomorrow.