Protection berm to retain floodwaters of a nuclear power plant in Nebraska collapsed early Sunday after he was accidentally torn, surrounding containment buildings and the main electrical equipment with the Missouri River overflow.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors verified that the process to cool the reactor and irradiated fuel pool have been allocated, the Agency said in a press release.
484-Fort Calhoun megawatts, located 19 km north of Omaha, have been closed since April 7 for supplying fuel and the NRC said that it not be restarted until the flood waters recede.
Regulators have been keeping tight the Fort Calhoun nuclear Cooper, both managed by the State of Nebraska, flooding along the Missouri River became more and more widespread.
Two years ago, lack of preparation against floods at the plant were found during an inspection, but have been corrected.
The situation in Nebraska has developed in the fears increased nuclear safety, following the disaster of the Fukushima Daiichi plant to the Japan. The harm inflicted by a tsunami triggered the earthquake in early March has been the cause of a series of explosions and the release of harmful radiation.
The berm filled with water - not required by regulations of NRC - provided additional protection. It collapsed at about 1: 25 PM after he was accidentally broken while the work was done on the site, according to Victor Dricks, a spokesman for the NRC.
The berm, essentially a huge inner tube, then collapsed. Mr. Dricks said that he did not know the exact nature of the work that was underway.
Containment surrounded by water and auxiliary buildings are protected by the design of a flood of 1,014 average level of the sea level. Missouri River levels are not should exceed 1 008 feet.
Collapse of the berm allowed floodwaters washing around the main electrical transformers. As a result, groups diesel generators for emergency began. Later in the day, the power has been restored.
Mr. Dricks NRC said temperature monitors were working properly and the temperatures of the key parts of the nuclear power plant were normal. The water has not seeped into all containment structures, he said.
In shutdown mode, a nuclear power plant requires electricity to keep the cool key components in order to avoid any degradation or melting of the nucleus which could result in the release of radiation.
In response to the collapse of the berm, the NRC has activated its Incident Response Center. The lowest of four levels of notification of emergency remains in force for the plant.
President of the NRC Gregory Jaczko is scheduled to visit the plant Monday. Water levels have been day to the next a little hindsight, but weather forecasts called for more rain.
Write to Anna Raff to the anna.raff@dowjones.com
