nuclear-news

Nuclear emergency on Missouri

Federal Water Tap, June 20: Flood Effects, Nuclear Power, Dam Removal. CIRCLE OF BLUE, 20 JUNE 2011 Nuclear Emergency on the Missouri Because of snowmelt and record releases from dams managed by the Army Corps of Engineers, the Missouri River has surrounded two nuclear power plants in Nebraska, creating atomic islands on the floodplain. In addition to traditional safety measures, water-filled polyethylene berms are being used as a line of defense to keep the river from inundating the facilities.

On Sunday morning, the Cooper plant, 70 miles south of Omaha, filed a “notification of unusual event” with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It is the lowest of four emergency classifications used by the NRC. The other plant, at Fort Calhoun, submitted such a notice two weeks ago. It has been shut down since April for refueling and won’t be restarted until the flood waters subside. The Omaha World-Herald has more details.

Nuclear Decommissioning
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed new regulations to guide the decommissioning process. The NRC is clarifying the language used in its statutes to make explicit that residual radioactivity in soil and groundwater should be accounted for in company records. These radioactivity surveys will be used to evaluate decommissioning costs. http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2011/federal-water-tap/federal-water-tap-june-20-flood-effects-nuclear-power-dam-removal/

June 21, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA