Nuke query: What if dam breaks? (Fort Calhoun & Cooper)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110630/NEWS01/110639977/1026927#nuke-query-what-if-dam-breaks

By Nancy Gaarder
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Published Thursday June 30, 2011

Photo: http://www.omaha.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=OW&Date=20110630&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=110639977&Ref=AR&maxw=490&maxh=275
Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is asking for an explanation of the flooding that would occur should a dam break upstream of two Nebraska nuclear plants it monitors.

Combined, the six U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dams on the flood-swollen Missouri River comprise one of the largest reservoir systems in the country. The dams are releasing historic amounts of water during what will be a summer of managed flooding in the Missouri River valley.

On Wednesday, the NRC regional office that oversees Nebraska sent an official request to the corps for its 2009 and 2010 analyses of what would happen if a dam fails.

Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station, 19 miles north of Omaha, was offline before the flooding and remains so because of it. The river surrounds the plant to a depth of about two feet.

FULL story and video at link.

[PoliticAverse]

1. ... water being released from them is a record, the amount of water being held behind the(m) is not

So the dams aren't holding back record amounts of water.

[Omaha Steve]

2. Snow melt hasn't really started yet

Snowfall was 140% of a normal year. They have to make room in all 5 dams.

[AndyTiedye]

3. If a Dam Breaks, the Nuke Plant Gets Flooded, and Nebraska is Fuku'ed

The rush of water from a burst dam would be a lot worse than the tsunami at Fukushima.
Likely the effect would be the same or worse. Cooling systems wrecked, generators flooded. Fuku'ed.

:nuke: :hide: