SimplyInfo » Entries tagged with "ft. calhoun"
Fukushima & Nuclear News Roundup
[Translate] The head of the JAEA that runs the Monju reactor program has resigned after a massive string of failures and incompetence was uncovered by the NRA. Officials don’t see this as a solution to the problems at Monju that are far more widespread than the leadership. Kyodo News reports that NRA also discovered operational and management problems where there was an obsession with restarting the reactor and worker warnings were ignored. An in depth analysis by Asahi Shimbun shows how closing the Tsuruga #2 reactor for being over an active fault line could create a house of cards that would be a blow to all the power companies in Japan. Potential shutdown of other reactors suspected to be over fault lines could put all of Japan’s power companies into heavy debt. The Japanese Industry … Read entire article »
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Omaha Power Company Charges $5000 To Answer Question
[Translate] The Omaha Public Power District is demanding $5000 to answer a question from their customers. OPPD owns and runs the Ft. Calhoun nuclear plant made famous after it sat surrounded by flood waters in the spring of 2011. The plant is still out of operation as a mountain of failures found by the NRC are being worked through. OPPD claims they can repair all of the problem including a structural failure found inside the reactor containment structure. OPPD recently requested a rate increase from consumers to pay for a $143 million dollar contract with Exelon to help them try to fix the plant. A slew of new problems have been found since the last OPPD request for more money including the containment failure. These new costs caused some concerned consumers to ask … Read entire article »
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REVIEW: Dames & Moore Reports On Ft. Calhoun Show Foundation Risks
[Translate] Two reports were done back in the 1960′s by a New York City engineering firm, Dames & Moore. The work looked at the geology of the proposed nuclear site and the appropriateness of the plant design to the chosen site. The 1967 study looked mostly at what they considered “environmental” issues but focused on soil and land properties at that point Dames & Moore felt the site to be without considerable flaws. In the 1968 report they took a considerably different opinion. The foundation related geologic inspection work found what appears to be part of a long horizontally running vein of vertical cavities and voids in the bedrock. While Dames & Moore was not able to conclusively prove the interconnectedness of the found flaws they did find matching evidence in a nearby … Read entire article »
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Citizen Uses SimplyInfo Research To Take On Omaha Power Board
[Translate] Local resident LaVerne Thraen cited a report by SimplyInfo.org when he confronted the Omaha Public Power District regarding multiple failures at Ft. Calhoun Nuclear Station. Our report, based off of a December 2012 NRC Investigation found multiple new problems at the plant. Many of these issues pointed back to management and the upper management at OPPD. Some of these ongoing failures and mismanagement went back decades. The response by OPPD board members to Mr. Thraen’s questions is worth watching! Mr. Thraen has been attending and documenting OPPD board meetings and NRC meetings throughout the issues with Ft. Calhoun after the massive 2011 flood. All of his documented videos can be found here. This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is … Read entire article »
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Ft. Calhoun Geo-Testing Shows A Dangerous Potential
[Translate] Public records requests by Clean Nebraska were able to obtain portions of the initial geologic testing report for Ft. Calhoun. The report itself was large, what it contained has mostly not been part of the public discussion about Ft. Calhoun from either OPPD or the NRC. The review here is quite long but it has been broken into sections to facilitate reading. The short of this is there are problems or potential problems, some of them with the ability to be major and they reside under the containment, spent fuel pool, auxiliary building and turbine building. Erosion issues Ft. Calhoun was “significantly challenged” by the 2011 record flood according to plant owner OPPD. The post flood reviews initiated by the NRC included a request for geologic testing at the site. OPPD has … Read entire article »
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Ft. Calhoun NRC Meeting 1.8.2012 Report
[Translate] The NRC meeting on Ft. Calhoun today did uncover a few pieces of information but largely seemed more like a therapy session than a regulatory meeting. OPPD began with a rather long presentation full of corporate speak that focused on human interaction and how people “feel”. OPPD focused on human resources issues and almost completely ignored the actual technical challenges at the plant. OPPD and Exelon also hyper focused on the minute actions of low level workers. The big problems at the plant involve very large long term failures to repair known problems at the plant. These issues were not the cause of low level workers, they involved high level management decisions to not spend money on needed repairs over decades and repeated NRC warnings. OPPD proudly announced actions like making … Read entire article »
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New Ft. Calhoun Nuclear Plant Report Shows More Safety Violations
[Translate] The NRC has issued yet another report on Ft. Calhoun’s ongoing safety failures. The December 31st report outlines a number of critical violations at the plant. December31stReport_ML12366A158 The violations include failures to keep important design basis documents. These are used to prove and also understand the systems of the plant. These documents confirm that the plant matches the approved conditions of the license and are also used as reference documents for any work or emergency situations at the plant. These have been wrong since the plant’s construction & approval. This was discovered in the 1980′s and a full reconstitution of the design documents was started in 1987. As of December 2012 this work has still not been completed even though there are repeated references to the deficiency and need to complete this … Read entire article »
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SimplyInfo Work Used As Evidence In Sierra Club Federal Petition
[Translate] A recent report by SimplyInfo.org on the problems at Ft. Calhoun nuclear station involving the containment building were added as evidence in an expanding legal petition brought by the Sierra Club. We reported on December 13th, findings from an NRC meeting held between OPPD, NRC and multiple engineering firms hired by OPPD. What we found in that NRC meeting was quite concerning as they outlined multiple failed concrete beams in their containment structure. OPPD also admitted there were multiple omissions and errors in the building design documents. Our report has been added to the federal communication on the case with the NRC. http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1235/ML12352A240.pdf This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content may also be copyright of other specific … Read entire article »
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Ft. Calhoun Containment Structure Failures Admitted
[Translate] Representatives from Ft. Calhoun’s operator OPPD, hired engineering firms, and the NRC held a meeting Wesnesday to discuss details of what has been described as issues with containment structures. The portion of the containment structure that is being investigated was described as a portion that supports plant equipment including air handling, steam generators and class 1 piping. A number of concrete beams within this structure were found to be “failed” as part of a plan to obtain a power uprate for the plant. Babcock & Wilcox were to begin engineering work for the uprate during the spring 2011 refueling outage that turned into the massive spring 2011 flood. Calculation work for the uprate was stopped after the first 6 beams investigated were considered failed. The problems go back to the original design … Read entire article »
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Broke Ft.Calhoun Nuclear Plant Owner Signs Questionable Deal With Exelon
[Translate] OPPD, the public power utility that owns the Ft. Calhoun nuclear plant in Nebraska has admitted they do not have the $143 million dollars needed to do repairs to get the flood damaged nuclear plant back online. The power utility has signed a long term contract with Exelon to repair and run the plant. This $400 million dollar contact was signed without any public review and now OPPD refuses to give the media a copy of this contract citing business trade secrets. OPPD claims the $143 million repair bill will “deferred” somehow but does not clarify how. They have also not ruled out raising rates on consumers. The plant has been plagued with problems. Fires, flood water infiltration, erosion under the plant, issues with the intake system, whistle blower suits and staff … Read entire article »
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NRC Whistleblowers Show Conflicts In Agency, Ft. Calhoun
[Translate] A letter sent by NRC employees in the Arlington, TX office blasting Troy Pruett, a regional deputy director at NRC is raising more worries about reactor safety. Employees at the regional offices in Texas claimed that Pruett undermined their efforts to report safety issues at plants and retaliated if employees would not downplay found issues. The whistle blowing employees are asking for an independent non-governmental company to come in an investigate, claiming the inspector general defers back to NRC management for problem resolution. One incident specifically cited in the fire last year at Ft. Calhoun station. Pruett pressured employees to downplay the issue and to not give a “red” finding. The revelations at the NRC’s regional offices raise even more questions about the true nature of Ft. Calhoun’s damage and safety oversight … Read entire article »
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NRC May Have Not Disclosed Massive Damage At Ft. Calhoun Nuclear Plant
[Translate] A set of correspondence from the nonukes’yall email list (copied at end of the article) cites much larger and more devastating flood damage at the Ft. Calhoun nuclear plant in Nebraska. According to the emails NRC officials admitted after the meeting that there were leaks into the power plant and reactor building from the flooding that surrounded it for months. Underground leaks occurred into the plant itself and “ the water coming in could have risen to the level where it would have started to short electrical panels” This alone could have turned the flooding into a full blown disaster where the cooling systems at the plant would be inoperable and could have knocked out monitoring capability. The plant already had a fire that knocked out both the primary and back up system for cooling the spent fuel … Read entire article »
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Ft. Calhoun More Work & Repairs Will Take Until Fall, No Restart Date
[Translate] Ft. Calhoun staff and NRC officials announced that the list of inspections and repairs will now take until fall of this year and no potential restart date has been set. The plant has been plagued with additional problems found after the flood waters receded. The NRC has yet to announce the status of any of the flood impacted equipment such as the intakes and water pumps. OPPD has hired a new plant manager from Exelon to run the plant in an effort to get many of the management issues resolved. Nothing has been mentioned by OPPD or the NRC about changing the plant’s flood protection plan. Last year the plant made news as it was surrounded by flood water protected only by sand bags and a water filled rubber tube dam … Read entire article »
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Ft. Calhoun Nuclear Station Continues To Be A Regional Menace
[Translate] The NRC has (again) punished Ft. Calhoun Nuclear station and operator Omaha Public Power District for failures at the Ft. Calhoun nuclear station. A “serious threat” finding was issued in relation to a fire that happened while the plant was shut down but in a heightened stage due to rising flood waters last year. The fire caused both the electrical system for cooling spent fuel and the back up power system to go out. Workers smelled something odd for 3 days but didn’t investigate. An improper breaker installed allowed grease to enter the contacts, eventually starting the fire. OPPD does not contest the NRC finding on the fire and has admitted on multiple occasions that management and workers have failed. Adding to the surreal goings on at Ft. Calhoun, Nebraska Watchdog … Read entire article »
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US Regulators Admit Dam Failure Risk At Nebraska Nuclear Plants
[Translate] The NRC has announced they will now investigate the risk of a dam failure on nuclear plants in the US. Last year Ft. Calhoun sat surrounded by flood waters with only sandbags and a rubber dam protecting it. Calhoun sits at river level and has no permanent or formal flood protection. Before the Fukushima disaster Calhoun didn’t even have a source lined up for sand to make sandbags. Now the NRC is adding dam failure to the list of risks that must be looked at and intends to tie this into the Fukushima safety upgrades program. What makes all of this more worrying is that the NRC saw no risk from dam failure and only began taking it seriously after public criticism and Arnie Gundersen pointing it out on national TV. People … Read entire article »
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Ft. Calhoun Nuclear Plant To Make Taxpayers Pay
[Translate] Ft. Calhoun has announced they will raise rates on customers citing part of the reason being the flood and the need to buy power to make up for the outage at Ft. Calhoun. We wrote previously that OPPD does not have the finances to cover flood repairs at Ft. Calhoun. Now OPPD wants FEMA to pay them for the $25.1 million it cost to buy power on the open market. FEMA has been primarily a program to aid home owners and small businesses with flood recovery, they would have to change FEMA rules to pay OPPD. OPPD seems determined to make the public pay for their mistakes no matter what. OPPD chose to site the plant at river level in a flood plain. OPPD has chosen to continue to run … Read entire article »
Filed under: The Latest, US Nuclear News
Ft. Calhoun Admits Failing Safety Culture, We Have Visual Proof
[Translate] In a recent interview with the Omaha World Herald, OPPD CEO Gary Gates admitted that Ft. Calhoun Nuclear Station has had a slipping safety standard. “Gates thinks there has been subtle slippage. He thinks one factor in the switch failure was a conscious falling back on the fact that the plant had redundant systems.” Plant union representative Ken Dowdy agreed. “Ken Dowdy, a union official who works as a maintenance planner at Fort Calhoun, said there are definitely management issues within the plant. “I can’t tell you leadership is wonderful but we’re in column four,” Dowdy said. “That’s where the rubber meets the road.” He declined to specify what he thinks the management issues are but said he has confidence Gates will make necessary changes.” The plant was left surrounded by river flooding, had a fire, … Read entire article »
Filed under: The Latest, US Nuclear News
Ft. Calhoun Flood Level Data
[Translate] This seems to be the question of the week. How high are the waters at Ft. Calhoun supposed to go? Ft. Calhoun’s documented flood protection goes up to 1014 above sea level. No idea what this translates into actual height above flood level on the river, can’t find that piece of data. The Corps estimated crest (this may be old data now) 1004 above sea level at Ft. Calhoun Omaha Power claims this means a 3 to 6 foot river rise. Govt. records match that estimate. KCAU is reporting flood waters of 2 feet higher than expected but doesn’t quantify this statement with existing reports or levels. Gauges at Blair, NE (closest station to Ft. Calhoun) shows 31.5 current level. NOAA flood data at Blair, NE No details of height difference between Blair station and Ft Calhoun … Read entire article »
Filed under: Digests, US Nuclear News
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