Online conversations over the past few days have included rants against the main stream media for ignoring the precarious situation in a nuclear reactor in Nebraska. Huh? Nebraska? Nothing ever happens there except corn growing and football practice.

Except--there are two nuclear reactors in Nebraska that are being threatened by floodwaters in the Missouri River valley. Both are located close to Omaha—the Fort Calhoun Station and the Cooper Nuclear Station. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has estimated that flood waters could put both reactors under 10 feet of water for an extended period of time.

The Fort Calhoun Station has been shut-down since April, and has been surrounded by a rubber dike. I don’t know if the dike is high enough and strong enough to hold back 10 feet of surging flood water. The Cooper Nuclear Station has been operating. The FAA has restricted air travel over the two reactors. The rumor is that it was restricted because some fly-overs revealed breaches in the dikes.

Clearly there is some question of the ability to keep floodwaters out of the plants. The floodwaters are expected to keep rising as water is released from upstream dams in South Dakota, where the Republican ex-governor is whining that his McMansion is being threatened by these releases, even though he had to know it was in a flood plain when he built it. The nuclear power plants also should have known that they were in a flood plain when they were built. Nice short term planning, guys.

Omaha, enjoy your 15 minutes of fame. That glow may last a long time.

By the way, welcome to summer.

Homework

Story in Hawaiian Newspaper

Corps of Engineers Projected Maps of Flooding Around Omaha

Public Comments of Former SD Governor Rounds

Blogger's Opinion of Rounds Rants and U.S. Corps of Engineers