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VIDEO: Close-Up Missouri River Flooding at Cooper Nuclear Plant in Nebraska June 22, 2011
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Two More Levee Breaches Reported in Missouri June 24, 2011
Missouri River Federal Levee L-550 breached Thursday evening, June 23, at about 8:45 p.m. near Watson, Mo. The levee has been overtopping for several days at a different location. The breach is located about 2 miles downs stream of the Nishnabotna River. The local sponsor and authorities are notifying local residents.
Holt County Levee 9 near Forest City, Mo., breached also early Friday morning, June 24.
Levee Breach Downriver Means Reprieve For Nuclear Plant
June 24, 2011www.action3news.com
Brownville, NE - (AP) - The failure of a Missouri River levee in northwest Missouri offered a brief reprieve Friday from flooding near the Cooper nuclear power plant in southeast Nebraska, although officials expect the waterway to rise back up to a threatening level.
The National Weather Service said the river dropped more than a foot at Brownville to 43.1 feet Friday morning after the breach Thursday evening upstream in northwest Missouri. Before the breach, the river had been 44.8 feet deep at Brownville.
The river would have to rise to 46.5 feet before it reaches Cooper, which is owned by the Nebraska Public Power District, but the plant would be shut down as a precaution if the river reached 45.5 feet.
NPPD spokesman Mark Becker said the plant continues to operate at full capacity.
The weather service predicted that the river at Brownville will rise over the weekend back to a similar level to earlier this week.
The Army Corps of Engineers predicts it will rise another 3 to 5 inches on top of that by early next week.
The corps has been releasing water from dams upstream where heavy spring rain and snow melt have bloated the waterway, causing a rapid rise in the river elsewhere. Releases at Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota hit 160,000 cubic feet of water per second on Thursday, and the corps planned to continue releasing water at that rate until at least August.
The river is expected to remain 5 to 7.5 feet above flood stage in Nebraska and Iowa throughout the summer, and water levels could swell more than 10 feet above flood stage at places in Missouri.
Experts with the National Weather Service and the corps have said that levee breaches will provide only temporary decreases in water levels because there is still so much water flowing downstream. Once the water flowing through a failed levee spreads out, the pressure will build up and the river will rise again.
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 and its access roads. Some internal doorways have also been barricaded with flood gates to protect equipment.
Last Sunday, Cooper nuclear plant sent a low-level alert to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, called a "notification of unusual event," because of the rising river, so regulators are also watching the situation closely.
Nebraska's other nuclear power plant, Fort Calhoun, issued a similar notice on June 6. That power plant, about 20 miles north of Omaha, remains shut down because of concerns about the water level there.
The river at Blair, near Fort Calhoun, was 32.5-feet-deep Friday morning, which is 6 feet above flood stage, causing moderate flooding of low-lying areas. The Omaha Public Power District, which owns Fort Calhoun, said a series of protective barriers have stopped the advance of floodwaters and protected the nuclear plant.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials say both NPPD and OPPD have taken appropriate measures to protect their nuclear power plants.
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Online:
Nebraska Public Power District: www.nppd.com
Omaha Public Power District: www.oppd.com
Nuclear Regulatory Commission: www.nrc.gov
Large levee breach 3 miles up from Cooper Nuclear Station. Mandatory evacs
www.examiner.com___________________________________________________________________________
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Around 9:00 Thursday night, a large levee breach occurred at Brownville, Mo. three miles upstream from Nebraska's Cooper Nuclear Station, the atomic reactor identical twin to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4. Mills County issued a mandatory evacuation order, are disconnecting power today, and say the General Electric Mark 1 Boiling Water Reactor of Cooper Nuclear Plant that has been under an "unusual event declaration," is not threatened. NRC Chairman is heading to the site.
“This is a large breach and water will be moving rapidly. Persons should stay out of this area if previously evacuated due to danger,” the Atchison County Emergency Management office said in a prepared statement according to Nebraska State Paper.
"It happened so quick that they were concerned that they may not be able to escape. The water was coming through fast and hard. … We're not sure what the size of the break is so far," reported Mark Manchester, deputy emergency management director for Atchison County, Mo., Thursday evening." (Lincoln Journal Star)
The World-Herald News Service reported that Mills County issued a mandatory evacuation order Thursday for residents in part of the county.
“The safety of the residents in those areas is our greatest concern, and we needed to take action,” said Sheri Bowen, public information officer for Mills County Emergency Management. (World-Herald)Iowa Army National Guard, the levee and drainage district staff and emergency management personnel are patrolling the levee.
CNN reported Thursday, "It was catastrophic flooding from Japan's March 11 tsunami that knocked out cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, resulting in three reactors melting down and producing the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
"This year's Midwestern flooding has also led to a spate of rumors about the Fort Calhoun plant that Omaha Public Power and the NRC have been trying to knock down."
Although the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has stated that both the Cooper Nuclear Station at Brownville and the Fort Calhoun plant remain safe, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko will soon visit the state a spokesman for Senator Ben Nelson (NE-D) confirmed to Nebraska Watchdog.
Two More Levee Breaches Reported in Missouri
June 24, 2011
Missouri River Federal Levee L-550 breached Thursday evening, June 23, at about 8:45 p.m. near Watson, Mo. The levee has been overtopping for several days at a different location. The breach is located about 2 miles downs stream of the Nishnabotna River. The local sponsor and authorities are notifying local residents.
Holt County Levee 9 near Forest City, Mo., breached also early Friday morning, June 24.___________________________________________ _____________________________________ . .
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