Nebraska Nuclear Plant, Flood Berm Collapsed ..

There was 2 ft of water in the plant, now 8 feet
of water and how much higher will it go and
what else will happen is anybodys guess. This
is very disturbing - continuing to keep close
tabs on this disaster. Thanks for info and
links.

www.youtube.com...

According to the man in this video, the military has placed explosives in 25% of the dam because of cracking. They will perhaps set them off on Tuesday. He is warning the residents of more flooding if this dam goes. Gavins Dam is located just above the two nuclear plants in question.

Originally posted by RoyalBlue

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
Okay, now Drudge has a link saying the berm was a temporary one. Just like the last and primary line of defense around every building in the plant. So, if a tear happened, what exactly caused it? The ONLY reason I have felt good about Fort Calhoun HAS BEEN the little miracles these Aqua Dams have represented. Now they lost one and the Army Corps of Engineers has announced the record release at Gavins Point up river will go on well into August. So just how long can these temporary inner-tube like structures last with LONG term pressure and such of a flood?

This isn't good.

edit on 26-6-2011 by Wrabbit2000 because: reported events overtook my post entirely

I read equipment accidentally punctured the aqua derm.

Of course, WHAT kind of equipment was carelessly being moved around at 1:30 in the morning???

edit on 26-6-2011 by RoyalBlue because: (no reason given)

I can imagine all types of equipment and/or material being moved 24 hours a day. What I don't understand is why the Plant Manager or Chief Engineer didn't take the necessary steps to insure the beam COULDN'T be damaged. In my wildest dreams I can't imagine that this weak link wasn't identified time and again during meetings. I wonder how many workers are shaking their heads and thinking..."told ya so".

Watch a wall will of had a 'crack' in it, the wall will end up collapsing and the building will take water.
I for one would not be shocked in the least.

I live in the area 40 miles away and we just got hammered with rain, this past week, we have had 3 or so, just unbelievable amounts of fast hard rain. So many of the roads, highways, and portions of I-29 are closed or under water, it's nearly impossible to get from Nebraska into iowa from Omaha south. Currently the only way is across I80 at Omaha.

reply to post by ringing


Be sure to keep us updated... what a situation we have.

That sounds like a dangerous and unstable situation
with the dam above the two nuclear plants. This
event could worsen at any given moment.

Originally posted by Dalke07

Is very bad end mach water coming from north, we need new end more information on this ..

Posted: 12:20 PM Jun 26, 2011

"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."

www.wowt.com...

news.yahoo.com...

www.kcautv.com...

edit on 26-6-2011 by Dalke07 because: (no reason given)

It is truly a shame when a matter of SIX FEET is the difference between Fukishima-styled nuclear catastrophe in the United States heartland and "all is well."

We don't really know what's going on over there.
Between "everything it's fine, nothing to worry about" and "OMG, the hell will break loose" there is a wide range of possibilities that we can choose to believe according to our own level of optimism. The contradictory infos in the media don't help much.
How come no reporter goes there to give us all a clear picture of the situation? Maybe some local media?
Maybe someone can just call the plant and ask some plain and simple questions?
I am so sorry I don't live in the area; I would be right there at the gates, not leaving until I get all the answers...

Flood berm collapses at Nebraska nuclear plant

By JOSH FUNK - Associated Press,TIMBERLY ROSS - Associated Press | AP – 44 mins ago
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BROWNVILLE, Neb. (AP) — A berm holding the flooded Missouri River back from a Nebraska nuclear power station collapsed early Sunday, but federal regulators said they were monitoring the situation and there was no danger.
The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station shut down in early April for refueling, and there is no water inside the plant, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said. Also, the river is not expected to rise higher than the level the plant was designed to handle. NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said the plant remains safe.
The federal commission had inspectors at the plant 20 miles north of Omaha when the 2,000-foot berm collapsed about 1:30 a.m. Sunday. Water surrounded the auxiliary and containment buildings at the plant, it said in a statement.
The Omaha Public Power District has said the complex will not be reactivated until the flooding subsides. Its spokesman, Jeff Hanson, said the berm wasn't critical to protecting the plant but a crew will look at whether it can be patched.
"That was an additional layer of protection we put in," Hanson said.
The berm's collapse didn't affect the reactor shutdown cooling or the spent fuel pool cooling, but the power supply was cut after water surrounded the main electrical transformers, the NRC said. Emergency generators powered the plant until an off-site power supply was connected Sunday afternoon, according to OPPD.
NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko said the loss of the berm at Fort Calhoun nuclear plant doesn't threaten the safety of the plant.
"There are other structures and systems in place that can ensure they will continue operating safely," Jaczko said.
Jaczko will tour the Fort Calhoun plant Monday. His visit was scheduled last week. On Sunday, he toured Nebraska's other nuclear power plant, which sits along the Missouri River near Brownville. Cooper nuclear power plant is about 75 miles south of Omaha and run by the Nebraska Public Power District.
Jaczko said he can't predict what the river will do this summer but that NPPD and OPPD seem to be taking appropriate steps to defend against flooding.
Jaczko spent much of his tour of Cooper asking NPPD officials and the NRC's local inspectors questions about the plant and this year's flooding. He said his visit was designed to gather information.
NPPD officials have been monitoring river levels closely during the flooding, and they have already brought in more than 5,000 tons of sand to build barricades protecting the Cooper plant, the onsite power substations and the plant's access roads.
Accessing critical parts of the plant requires visitors to use ladders or steel stairs to climb over sandbag barriers both outside and inside the doors. When the Jaczko saw one of Cooper's two back-up diesel generators, he had to climb over three different sandbag barriers to get there.
The Cooper plant remains dry because it sits at an elevation above the river level. The base of Cooper and its storage area for used nuclear fuel is 903 feet above sea level while on Sunday the river was just above 899 feet.
Cooper would be shut down if the river rose to 902 feet above sea level, but officials say that is unlikely.
"This plant is designed to deal with a flood much higher than we are seeing — 906 feet," Jaczko said.
Both nuclear plants issued flooding alerts earlier this month, although they were routine as the river's rise has been expected. Cooper has been operating at full capacity.
Flooding remains a concern all along the Missouri because of massive amounts of water the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released from upstream reservoirs. The river is expected to rise as much as 5 to 7 feet above flood stage in much of Nebraska and Iowa and as much as 10 feet over flood stage in parts of Missouri.
The corps expects the river to remain high at least into August because of heavy spring rains in the upper Plains and substantial Rocky Mountain snowpack melting into the river basin.
___
Josh Funk Associated Press Writer Timberly Ross contributed to this report from Omaha and can be reached at twitter.com...


latest as of 06/26/2011 at 11:40pm cst

Originally posted by SecretNebraska
I wanna dance and start saying I told you so, but not quite yet. This problem has been going on for a month. Why does the corp of engineers think its smart to put nuke plants on flood plains, even worse, with in sight of a river known for historical floods.


I live in Lincoln Ne, there was a haze over the city all day, and now, the storms are coming in with more rain. If I thought praying would do any good I would do it. All we can do is sit by and watch the situation get worse.


side note: for all those who told me weeks ago there was nothing to worry about I challenge you to say that now...

You want to dance because millions of people will die a very slow, very painful death? You need to go get yourself checked out for real.

I live about 14 miles from Fort Calhoun, I'm not terribly worried about the plant. Some things I'd like to clear up, if you allow me:

"Why build a nuke plant on a flood plain?"
The last time the river flooded to anywhere near this level was back in 1953. Since then, four dams have been built further upstream in South Dakota, these dams ended the yearly flooding that used to occur. The closest dam is Gavin's Point near the Nebraska/South Dakota border, mind you Omaha/Ft. Calhoun are in the middle on the eastern edge of Nebraska, far away from this dam.

Also, most steam plants (nuclear and coal) are built near water, the natural water is purified and used to create the steam to run the generators. This is why the plant is so near to the river.

Gavin's Point dam will burst/be blown up
I haven't bothered to watch the video because, honestly, the Gavin's Point dam is not like the Hoover dam. It has massive doorways that open or close to allow water through.

Here's a good video of what the dam looks like:


So, I'm here to answer your questions or maybe go exploring the area for you. Lots of people have videos and pictures of what's been going on, just google 'Omaha flood 2011' or 'missouri river flood 2011'.

reply to post by links234


Well, thank you, links234!
That sounds much better, to be honest.
Hope you can keep us updated if something changes over there, for better or worse.

Did anyone notice in the NY Times article stated the plant fought against installing safety measures so the plant could withstand up to a 1014 ft flood? They wanted to put sand bags on a 1/2 inch door frame in order to protect from a 1014 foot flood ( 1014 is the flood level if a dam broke).

Can you imagine what would be happening now if those regulators caved in?


Anyway, from what I can tell the major safety feature is to weld the doors shut if the water gets too high. Maybe this is a temp solution but certainly not something which would work for more than a few days.

reply to post by links234


Here is a newer video of water release from gavins point dam...it has gotten much more intense

reply to post by My.mind.is.mine


Why would someone build a sky scraper with the goal in mind it would survive a passenger jet?

And before you say "Well.." I'm actually mocking that inane statement and not endorsing the conspiracy.

I'm pretty certain this is what is being used.

Aqua Dams are environmentally safe stable water barriers used to contain, divert, and control the flow of water. The design consists of two polyethylene liners contained by a single woven geo-tech outer tube. When the two inner tubes are filled with water, the resulting pressure and mass create a stable, non-rolling wall of water.

A single tube filled with water will not provide a stable wall or dam as the water builds up on one side of the tube the pressure on the wall of the tube begins to increase.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/4b71b372ac28.jpg[/atsimg]

The Aqua Dam is able to offer a stable wall by containing two water columns in a single outer tube. The contained water columns are unable to assume their natural position and form a vertical wall in the middle as they press against each other. The pressure inside the tubes applies a substantial force to both sides of this vertical wall

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/aebe14b932fe.jpg[/atsimg]

I see the equations they use to determine the stability of the device, but I can't find anything bout the particular material it is made from.

Here is the aquadam inaction, er I mean in action...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/60badca88d34.jpg[/atsimg]

reply to post by Dalke07

This just posted 5 hours ago on YouTube by mistermassive1
"Gavins Point Dam - South Dakota Omaha, Nebraska - Impending Flooding Coming!"

Man claiming disturbing developments occurring with Gavins Point Dam (SD/Nebr state line...150 miles north Omaha, Nebr) . Says face of dam is cracking, and military has planted explosives along the dam in hopes of relieving pressure, and saving part of dam. Claiming they will blame it on dam failure, while everything in it's path will get 'clean swiped'. He's living in Omaha, and claims they're waiting till after college game before they blow it up. Interstate 480/Council Bluffs have been voluntarily evacuated. National Guard troops all over the levy. Lots more info. He sounds reasonably credible/sincere. Here is the link.

www.youtube.com...

reply to post by Freedom_is_Slavery


There is quite a bit more to just shutting it down.

As we've seen with the Fukushima array there are massive amounts of heat generated by the spent fuel rod pools. This MUST be kept under control by pumping fresh, clean, cool water around them.

Once circulation stops they heat up, the water boils off rapidly and the rods being to oxidize their Zircaloy structure- offgassing hydrogen. Once this happens the rods are brittle, they crack and the fuel pellets drop to the bottom, generating even more heat. Once a threshold temperature is reached they melt and form a geometrically unstable mass that beings to undergo spot fission similar to chugging that occurs during refueling.

What is going on there is essentially what went on at Fukushima- with the same exact government platitudes.