Herman Cain is worried about China. (via: bobcesca)
So yes they’re a military threat. They’ve indicated that they’re trying to develop nuclear capability and they want to develop more aircraft carriers like we have. So yes, we have to consider them a military threat.
That China is a recognized nuclear state reminds me of Palin and Russia. Cain has now had a “Putin rearin’ his head” moment.
Flood tests not over for nuke plant:
Because of the collapsed water-filled dam, river water surrounds the main reactor building, mechanical building, spent fuel pool building and other structures.
Barriers at entrances to the buildings are keeping that water from entering, Hanson said. A “minor” amount of water did seep into the plant’s turbine building, he said, and was pumped out.
The buildings themselves and associated pumps and electrical equipment are designed to handle flooding up to 1,014 feet above sea level. The river is a little over 1,006 feet now and is forecast to reach a crest of 1,008 feet, barring extraordinary rains.
What if the river keeps rising? Read more…
Meanwhile, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko offered support for both utilities after visiting the plants. He said both Fort Calhoun and Cooper remain safe.
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There are rumors that Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant in Nebraska is under a Level 4 emergency classification. Fort Calhoun is currently under a “Notification of Unusual Event (NOUE)” — which is the 4th (and lowest) emergency classification in the US. This is completely different from a Level 4 event on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES). There’s a HUGE difference between the NRC’s Emergency Classifications and the INES’s Emergency Classifications.
Neither Fort Calhoun or Cooper Nuclear Station are being classified by the INES scale. (NOTE: Fort Calhoun was on “Alert” classification in addition to the NOUE classification for one day this month.) Here are the definitions and links:
Emergency Classification in America:
Emergency Classification is a set of plant conditions which indicate a level of risk to the public. Nuclear power plants use the four emergency classifications listed below in order of increasing severity.
The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES):
Level 4: Accident with local consequences:
Impact on people and environment:
Minor release of radioactive material unlikely to result in implementation of planned countermeasures other than local food controls.
At least one death from radiation.
Impact on radiological barriers and control:
Fuel melt or damage to fuel resulting in more than 0.1% release of core inventory.
Release of significant quantities of radioactive material within an installation with a high probability of significant public exposure.
Related:
This morning, The Omaha World Herald reports there’s absolutely nothing to worry about with the flooding and the two nuclear reactors. Why is anyone worried? Don’t worry!
Tim Burke, vice president at Omaha Public Power District, said the plant’s flood barriers are being built to a level that will protect against rain and the release of record amounts of water from upstream dams on the Missouri River.
“We don’t see any concerns around the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station,” Burke said at a briefing in Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle’s office.
The nuclear plant, 20 miles north of Omaha, was shut down April 9 for refueling. It has not been restarted because of the imminent flooding.
Cooper Nuclear Station, which is about 70 miles south of Omaha near Brownville, Neb., continues to operate even as it makes similar flood protections. Cooper is owned by Nebraska Public Power District. The river would have to rise about 6 feet higher for the plant to go into a cold shutdown.
[...] However, other problems at the plant and some of the flood precautions themselves have unnerved people:
>>A fire at the outset of flooding temporarily disrupted power to the spent fuel pool.
>>The nuclear station shifted to an alert status.
>>Flights over the plant have been restricted.
>>Fort Calhoun was and continues to be one of the NRC’s most tightly monitored plants because of problems it had before the flooding.
Dricks said the NRC has taken the unusual step of sending more inspectors and a branch chief to Fort Calhoun. A branch chief is a top regional regulator. In this case, it’s the individual responsible for overseeing Fort Calhoun inspections and compliance.
Also, OPPD is bringing in additional boats, food and water for employees, which is not a cause for alarm, Dricks said. “It’s called prudence.”
[...] Elizabeth Ishan Cory, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the flight restrictions at Fort Calhoun are intended to keep curiosity seekers out of the immediate vicinity. Planes can still fly near the plant if they have flight plans and are in contact with air traffic controllers. Smaller aircraft are restricted in how close they can get to the plant.
Otherwise, there’s a risk of midair collisions that could jeopardize operations on the ground. “When you keep the area above the ground safe, you’re going to keep the people on the ground safe, too,” Cory said.
John Remus of the Corps of Engineers said the river level at Fort Calhoun had yet to reflect the full release of water from Gavins Point Dam.
Note that Cooper Nuclear Plant is located in Brownville, NE and, like Fort Calhoun, happens to also be under an FAA Temporary Flight Restriction until further notice:
| 06/07/2011 | 1/6704 | ZMP | NE | HAZARDS | BROWNVILLE., NE |  |
| 06/06/2011 | 1/6523 | ZMP | NE | HAZARDS | FORT CALHOUN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT BLAIRNE, NE |
Via DBKP: On June 14, 2011, the report Cooper Nuke Plant Will Get More NRC Oversight:
NRC inspectors said some of the station’s procedures for manually operating valves – which are part of system for releasing coolants under high pressure – wouldn’t work in the event of a fire. The independent emergency cooling system is one means available to provide water to cool the reactor in case of an emergency.
“Fire protection programs are a critical component in plant safety and the NRC is paying special attention to ensure [Cooper] takes actions to fully correct this issue,” according to Region IV Administrator Elmo E. Collins.
According to an informative post at the site The People’s Voice, the Ft. Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant and the Cooper Nuclear station are ‘partially submerged’ by Missouri floodwaters.
Below: The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station from the air Thursday [6/16/11]. OPPD was putting the finishing touches on federally ordered flood-defense improvements before flooding began. MATT MILLER/THE WORLD-HERALD
Here are the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s EVENT NOTIFICATION REPORTS for June/2011 at Fort Calhoun or Cooper Nuclear Plant:
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Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant is an island, but authorities are hoping it stays dry.
Image: Associated Press
Business Insider reports — June 15, 2011:
A fire in Nebraska’s Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant briefly knocked out the cooling process for spent nuclear fuel rods, ProPublica reports.
The fire occurred on June 7th, and knocked out cooling for approximately 90 minutes. After 88 hours, the cooling pool would boil dry and highly radioactive materials would be exposed.
On June 6th, the Federal Administration Aviation (FAA) issued a directive banning aircraft from entering the airspace within a two-mile radius of the plant.
Channel 6 news notes (June 14, 2011) that OPPC is intentionally flooding the containment building to cool the rods:
The facility was taken offline to refuel earlier this year so the containment building has been flooded by OPPD in order to cool the fuel rods.
Hanson adds they have a number of backup systems in place to continue to pump clean water through the spent fuel pool and into the reactor containment building so he says there is nothing to fear.
Gather — June 16, 2001:
Flood waters from the swollen Missouri River are surrounding the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant in Nebraska, and the status has been classified as “notification of an unusual event,” a low-level emergency.
While officials insist that there has been no release of radioactive material, the situation is very frightening… Citizens are rightly concerned that the Fort Calhoun plant could be breached by flood waters, causing radioactivity to be released.
The Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) has denied rumors regarding the situation, including the rumor that the Fort Calhoun plant is actually at a level 4 emergency. A no-fly zone has been set up by the FAA around the plant, causing concern that it is because radioactivity has been released into the air. According to OPPD, the flight restrictions are in place because of the flooding. But this raises the question, why would flooding cause them to restrict planes from flying over a certain area?
Wall Street Journal — June 8, 2011:
WASHINGTON—A nuclear power plant north of Omaha, Neb., on Tuesday briefly lost the ability to cool a pool of used nuclear fuel after a fire at the site, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.
The NRC said the plant recovered cooling ability without activating backup systems and “temperatures in the pool remained at safe levels.” The public was not in danger because the plant has been shut down since early April for a refueling outage, the agency said.
Spent fuel pools in the U.S. have received increased scrutiny after a recent crisis in Japan involving potentially overheated nuclear fuel and the release of dangerous radiation.
The agency declared an alert, the second of four emergency classes, at 9:40 a.m., 10 minutes after “an indication of fire” in a building at the plant. The NRC didn’t disclose the cause of the fire. Automatic fire control systems activated and the fire was out by 10:20 a.m., the agency said. The plant is operated by the Omaha Public Power District.
OPPD (Omaha Public Power District):
Video uploaded June 14:
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