Now it
gets ugly. The plant was not actually "designed" for the 1014 ft flood
level at all. Whether sufficient "improvements" to the original design
have been implemented properly is anyone's guess. The plant was
originally created to:
Here's the Omaha Public Power's solution to historic floodwaters lapping at their reactor:
You can't make this stuff up.
Yes, there's a reactor at Diablo Canyon in Southern California near an earthquake fault and designed magnitudes short of what could be unleashed there. Yes, they drilled so far below the Gulf of Mexico that they couldn't plug a leak until the Gulf was thick with oil and toxins. And yes, people in charge of the public safety at a Nebraska nuclear reactor thought piling up sandbags five feet high would safeguard against massive flooding.
These are the same geniuses who allegedly have performed the upgrades as instructed by NRC, just this year, to reluctantly fortify the plant against raging floodwaters.
I won't be touring the site personally.
The OPPD remains out of jail and in control of the situation. Its spokesman Michael Jones explained:
The current river level is just below 1007 feet.
The OPPD still clung to the absurdity that their fire truck would simply pump out the auxiliary building. That's their ace in the hole, apparently. One can picture Slim Pickens at the conclusion of Dr. Strangelove riding the nuclear warhead down and proudly waving his Stetson about with a victorious holler.
The NRC, it was reported deadpan, found that "it was not clear how workers could operate a crane to lift the fire truck into position if outside power were lost."
The Times waited until the end of the two page story to finally let the hammer drop:
The plant has not actually passed inspection, nor was it originally designed to handle the current reality. Its operator is criminally negligent in the extreme and incompetent also in the extreme. The operator has clearly fought the very safety improvements that are now desperately needed to hold back the river and avert a possible full meltdown a la Fukushima.
The age of nuclear power should be swiftly coming to an end. Do you really trust your family's lives to the sandbag plan? To the men who fight any reasonable action to make the nuclear reactors they have been entrusted with as safe as possible?
It's an indefensible industry. The situation is profit vs. public safety. The latter stands no chance over the long term.
"The precise level -- 1,009.5 feet -- is written into the plant's operating licenses as a flooding 'design basis' threat that the plant must be guarded against." (NYT)
Here's the Omaha Public Power's solution to historic floodwaters lapping at their reactor:
"OPPD planned to extend the barrier to 1,014 feet by stacking sandbags on top of some steel floodgates that protected the auxiliary building, and to use more sandbags to safeguard the water intake structure and its essential cooling water pumps. "
You can't make this stuff up.
Yes, there's a reactor at Diablo Canyon in Southern California near an earthquake fault and designed magnitudes short of what could be unleashed there. Yes, they drilled so far below the Gulf of Mexico that they couldn't plug a leak until the Gulf was thick with oil and toxins. And yes, people in charge of the public safety at a Nebraska nuclear reactor thought piling up sandbags five feet high would safeguard against massive flooding.
These are the same geniuses who allegedly have performed the upgrades as instructed by NRC, just this year, to reluctantly fortify the plant against raging floodwaters.
The OPPD remains out of jail and in control of the situation. Its spokesman Michael Jones explained:
"We presented our analysis to [NRC] which we felt indicated that the design basis [for the flooding threat] should remain 1,009 feet," rather than 1,014 feet, he said." (NYT)
The current river level is just below 1007 feet.
"At 1,008.5 feet, the technical support center used by emergency technicians would have been inundated... At 1,010 feet, water would begin to enter the auxiliary building, "shorting power and submerging pumps. The plant could then experience a station blackout with core damage estimated within 15 to 18 hours..." (NYT)
The OPPD still clung to the absurdity that their fire truck would simply pump out the auxiliary building. That's their ace in the hole, apparently. One can picture Slim Pickens at the conclusion of Dr. Strangelove riding the nuclear warhead down and proudly waving his Stetson about with a victorious holler.
The NRC, it was reported deadpan, found that "it was not clear how workers could operate a crane to lift the fire truck into position if outside power were lost."
The Times waited until the end of the two page story to finally let the hammer drop:
"The NRC has not completed its evaluation of the new defenses installed at Fort Calhoun..."
The plant has not actually passed inspection, nor was it originally designed to handle the current reality. Its operator is criminally negligent in the extreme and incompetent also in the extreme. The operator has clearly fought the very safety improvements that are now desperately needed to hold back the river and avert a possible full meltdown a la Fukushima.
The age of nuclear power should be swiftly coming to an end. Do you really trust your family's lives to the sandbag plan? To the men who fight any reasonable action to make the nuclear reactors they have been entrusted with as safe as possible?
It's an indefensible industry. The situation is profit vs. public safety. The latter stands no chance over the long term.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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