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Nonetheless, Omaha Public Power District CEO Gary Gates told AP:
"There is no possibility of a meltdown. The floodwaters are outside of Ft. Calhoun, not inside," AP adding:
"Fort Calhoun is the subject of more public concern because the floodwaters have surrounded that plant and forced workers to use raised catwalks to access the facility." Cooper Nuclear Station "is more elevated, so the floodwaters aren't as close to the facility." But the facility is by no means out of danger.
NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko also claims flooding endangers neither plant, words he may later eat if levels keep rising. In fact, Public Citizen's Tyson Slocum believes conditions are dangerous, saying:
"We're inches away from (Calhoun) nuclear plant being flooded. It's already an island. And we still have a very real possibility of flood levels rising....There's always the possibility of the situation escalating, especially when we don't control all the variables. That's what happened in Japan."
"There's no question that there's significant concern about the threat that rising flood waters pose to flooding certain operations of the plant that could disable certain critical safety features, including cooling systems."
Cooper may also be endangered, he added, saying:
"We wouldn't be having this conversation if this were a wind farm or if this were a solar power installation. Nuclear power inherently poses enormous risks to our communities. We really have to start questioning whether (it) should be a viable part of our 21st century energy mix."
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