Flood Hits US Nuke Plant: Waters Breach Berm at Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station in Nebraska

Media outlets are now reporting, many hours after the fact, that the Fort Calhoun, Nebraska Nuclear Power plant has been flooded with water after a berm protecting the reactor was breached earlier this morning.

MSNBC’s breaking news alerts us via twitter that the electrical power at Fort Calhoun, NE, nuclear plant is shut off after Missouri River breaches berm.

ABC News reports that while this is just being made news this evening the breach and the flooding of the reactor in fact occurred earlier this morning. No need to worry, however, your top news headlines are still Weiner and Casey Anthony.

Midwest Floods: Waters Breach Berm at Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station in Nebraska

A berm at a nuclear power plant in Fort Calhoun, Neb., collapsed early this morning, allowing Missouri River flood waters to reach containment buildings and transformers and forcing the shutdown of electrical power.

Tonight, backup generators are cooling the nuclear material at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station.

The plant has not operated since April, and officials say there is no danger to the public.

A spokesman for the Omaha Public Power District, Jeff Hanson, told The Associated Press that the breached berm wasn’t critical to protecting the plant, though a crew will look at whether it can be patched.

“That was an additional layer of protection we put in,” Hanson said.

Nevertheless, federal inspectors are on the scene, and the federal government is so concerned the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is headed to the plant.

There was no protecting thousands of homes in Minot, N.D., where massive flooding of the Souris River hit its peak today, flooding more than 4,000 homes, including Leslie Dull’s.

“When you actually see your house,” Dull said, “and you know it’s not just your basement, it’s your whole house, it’s–

“I’m sorry,” she said, as she broke down crying.

There is some good news: The river in Minot, N.D., peaked two feet lower than expected. However, it is nearly 13 feet above flood stage and it is expected to stay near that level for days.

“It could be two to four to six weeks, or more, before the water actually goes back into it’s banks … [and] before [residents] get to come and see their houses,” Brig. Gen. Bill Seekins of the North Dakota National Guard told ABC News during a tour through the flooded areas.

[...]

Source: ABC News

The Intel Hub adds:

The Intel Hub
June 26th, 2011

Photos of the flooding at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant.

A flood wall at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant has failed, leading many to speculate as to the consequences.

Omaha.com

Floodwaters surrounded several buildings at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station early Sunday morning after a water-filled wall collapsed.

The plant, about 19 miles north of Omaha, remains safe, Omaha Public Power District officials said Sunday afternoon.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is monitoring the Missouri River at the plant, which has been shut down since early April for refueling.

The 2,000-foot berm collapsed about 1:25 a.m. Sunday due to “onsite activities,” OPPD officials said. The Aqua Dam provided supplemental flood protection and was not required under NRC regulations.

Considering the face that the NRC has a long history of cover ups, it seems safe to say that whether or not the plant was safe, the NRC would claim the situation is under control.

Another report from the Associated Press quotes the NRC as well.

FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (AP) – A berm holding back floodwater at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station has collapsed.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it’s monitoring the Missouri River flooding at the plant, which has been shut down since early April for refueling.

The 2,000-foot berm collapsed about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, allowing the swollen river to surround two buildings at the plant. The NRC says those buildings are designed to handle flooding up to 1014 feet above sea level. The river is at 1006.3 feet and isn’t forecast to exceed 1008 feet.

Recent independent radiation reports have shown normal background radiation levels which indicates that there most likely has not been a release of radiation from the plant, at least not yet.

Mike Rivero of WhatReallyHappened.com has written a much more likely analysis.

The external power we were told could not fail … has failed. Fort Calhoun’s cooling system is running on the emergency backup generators. They have fuel for 88 hours (less the time they have already been operating) unless the flood waters short out and shut down the generators or pumps.

So basically, the nuclear power plants the US Government told us were safe are in danger of a major radiation release because the heavy snow pack the US Government told us was a thing of the past has produced heavy flooding which has overwhelmed toe flood controls systems the US Government assured us did not need repairs or upgrades.

That about sum it up?

Whether or not this news will cause a release of radiation is unknown but you can be sure that The Intel Hub will bring you tests and information independent of the NRC and the corporate controlled media.

Photos from Cartorations

Fort Calhoun – Fuel Storage and Flood Alert

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