One week following Nebraska Watchdog’s latest report on problems at Omaha’s nuclear plant members of the public gets another chance to sound off to federal regulators.
Thursday the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is holding its 3rd Omaha area public meeting this year regarding OPPD’s Fort Calhoun Station.
The reactor has been shut down since April 2011. At first it was taken off-line for routine refueling maintenance, but flooding along the Missouri River and a series of safety violations forced it to stay closed.
Last week Nebraska Watchdog reported that a 2-inch crack inside the containment building once again had federal inspectors wondering what went wrong.
According to a report from the NRC, because of the crack’s location the incident “is considered a degradation” of the Reactor Coolant System Barrier—the water piping and setup that keep the fuel from overheating.
A spokesperson for the NRC told Nebraska Watchdog the incident did not pose a safety threat because the plant is shut down.
OPPD officials say they hope to restart Fort Calhoun in September but that depends on further inspections by the NRC.
Thursday’s informal open house—where NRC officials will be available to discuss the agency’s oversight of Fort Calhoun—is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Omaha’s downtown Doubletree hotel.
Reported by Joe Jordan, joe@nebraskawatchdog.org
Editor’s note: to subscribe to News Updates from Nebraska Watchdog at no cost, click here
