Sandbagging continues at nuclear power plant

BROWNVILLE, NE (KXCV) - Sandbagging continues at a nuclear power plant about 2 hours north of Kansas City.

Cooper Nuclear Power Plant at Brownville, Nebraska sits on the Missouri River and has water intakes from the Missouri for its operations.

Cooper Spokesman Mark Becker says about 3 hundred people have been working for the past two weeks making sure the emergency plan is in place if the flood waters would reach the plant.

"We have additional fuel oil brought into the facility that would run the diesel generators in case we lose our off site power. We’ve got other consumables that we’ve basically topped off at the plant in case we couldn’t have access to the plant by vehicle traffic," Becker said.

Becker adds Cooper Nuclear does plan on continuing to operate even if the river floods

He says the Missouri River will have to rise another four feet before sandbagging on the inside doors at the facility would start.

Current forecasts show that may have to happen around Wednesday of next week.

Kirk Wayman, KXCV

Read More

Mo. Dept. of Health: No need to worry about trace nuclear material

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (MISSOURI DIGITAL NEWS) - A Department of Health spokesperson says there is no need for concern of radiation in Missouri despite the nuclear meltdown from Japan.

Trace amounts of nuclear material have been found in states bordering Missouri, according to the EPA.

In the aftermath of Japan's nuclear meltdown in March, speculation has arisen about radioactivity.

Department of Health communication director Jacqueline Lapine says there is nothing to worry about. She says the amounts found around the country are hundreds of times below the regulation limit.

"Currently we have not received any reports of increased radiation from the EPA testing sites," Lapine said.

Lapine says the public should not be concerned with radiation and should live life normally.

The EPA’s David Bryan says there have been no readings of radioactive material in any of Missouri's four reading stations.

Trace amounts of radioactive material have been found in Illinois and Iowa, but Bryan says there is no need to be concerned.

"In none of those samples have we found anything that represents a health hazard," Bryan said.

Bryan says though trace amounts have been found in other states, the readings are well below any dangerous levels.

Brian Pepoon, Missouri Digital News

Read More

Emerson on nuclear power, Libya

JACKSON, MO (KRCU) - U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson remains undeterred in her support of nuclear energy.

Despite the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, the Southeast Missouri Republican believes that nuclear power should remain a vital part of the United States’ energy portfolio.

Speaking after a Jackson Kiwanis Club meeting on Thursday, Emerson said that plants should only be built in areas that are far from strong seismic activity and are not prone to tsunamis. The tricky part comes in dealing with used fuel rods.

“Do you recycle them, which the European countries do and you just use them over and over again? Or do you continue trying to store them in Yucca Mountain, which is not going to happen at least at this point in time,” Emerson says.

Emerson believes that recycling nuclear rods holds promise in the future.

On the topic of Libya, Emerson isn’t sure what to make of President Barack Obama’s decision to join U.N. and Arab League forces to implement a no-fly zone over Libya.

While Presidents have historically engaged in military actions without Congressional approval, Emerson is distraught that the administration chose to get involved in Libya so quickly.

“The President had not outlined a goal or a mission, or an objective. He hadn’t really indicated how long this might take, or exactly what it might involve. And I don’t see any strategic importance to our country in the country of Libya,” Emerson says.

Emerson mentions that she is frustrated by the administration’s lack of communication and coordination with Congress on foreign affairs.

Emerson also met with constituents in Advance, Marble Hill, and Piedmont.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

Read More

Ameren says that Callaway nuclear plant is safe

Ameren's sole nuclear power plant was built to handle “worst case” natural disasters. 

That’s what Ameren officials told reporters on Friday, at a press conference called in response to the nuclear crisis in Japan.

The utility’s Chief Nuclear Officer Adam Heflin says the Callaway County plant has numerous back-up safety systems. Those include six sources of electrical power designed to protect against a total station blackout like the one Japan.

“Probably the number one thing that we focus on is nuclear safety, and that’s protecting the health and welfare of the public,” Hefflin says.

Heflin says Callaway is designed to withstand the most severe earthquakes, tornadoes, and flooding that could happen in our region.

Missouri environmental groups say that no matter how safely a plant is designed and operated, it’s impossible to prepare for all the unknown variables involved in a natural disaster.

Missouri Coalition for the Environment’s Ed Smith calls the U.S. nuclear industry a “financial black hole” that he says is only surviving because of economic support from states and the federal government.

And Smith says the current nuclear crisis in Japan shows how difficult it is to protect nuclear plants from natural disasters.

“What we need to understand about nuclear power is that we don’t know all the answers to how to respond to a natural disaster because the variables are unknown,” Smith says.

Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio

Photo: Callaway Nuclear Plant courtesy of Ameren.

Read More

McCaskill on nuclear power and ethics complaint

In the wake of the nuclear reactor crisis in Japan, Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill says the United States should re-evaluate the risk of nuclear energy and make smart decisions going forward.

Workers in Japan are trying to prevent a nuclear meltdown by cooling overheating reactors damaged by Friday’s earthquake and tsunami.

McCaskill says Ameren Missouri’s Callaway Nuclear Plant is safer because it’s a "pressurized water reactor", not a "boiling water reactor" like the one in Japan.

"Ours is much safer because of that. And it has been built to withstand earthquakes. I think we are in a much better position in Missouri in terms of the nuclear facility that we have in light of what has gone on in Japan. But, nonetheless, we are going to be paying attention to the aftermath of this," McCaskill says.

McCaskill points out that every source of energy has risks saying that the U.S.’s dependence on the Middle East for oil puts the country’s national security at risk.

The Senator also says she is embarrassed by the recent revelation that she was reimbursed for using a private airplane to attend a political event in 2007.

The Democrat’s comments come a day after the Missouri Republican Party filed an ethics complaint against her.

Last week, McCaskill repaid the U.S. Treasury $88,000 for 89 airplane trips she organized through a company in which she and her husband have an ownership stake. The trips were allowed by Senate rules, but McCaskill said she wanted to avoid the appearance of a conflict.

McCaskill says the complaint filed by Republicans is more about politics than ethics.

"Missouri Republican Party is going to try to ride this horse for as long as they can. They’re gonna try to make this as big a deal as they can. Them filing an ethics complaint is about as surprising as the sun coming up," McCaskill said.

McCaskill says she’s glad that such details about domestic travel are public record so members of Congress are held accountable. She says she is pushing for the same kind of transparency in foreign travel.

Julie Bierach, St. Louis Public Radio

Read More

Lawmakers, Ameren continue plans for second Callaway plant

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (MISSOURI DIGITAL NEWS) - Missouri lawmakers and Ameren Missouri have not given up their plans to pursue building a second nuclear power plant in Callaway County, despite recent problems at a Japanese nuclear power plant.

Last week, a Senate committee heard testimony from both supporters and opponents of the proposed second Callaway plant just two days prior to a 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit Japan, causing three reactor explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Even though these explosions have spotlighted potential problems with nuclear plants, Ameren, the state's main utility provider, and its legislative supporters have not changed their stance on legislation dealing with plans for another nuclear plant.

Ameren's Business Operations Supervisor, Rick Eastman, said that Japan's problems with its nuclear reactors have not impeded the company's promotion of legislation pushing for an early site permit needed to begin construction of a second plant in Callaway County.

Eastman also said Ameren has several safety procedures in place to deal to deal with emergency situations, including those caused by natural disasters such as an earthquake or tornado. These safety precautions include steel-enforced concrete walls, seismic sensors, backup generators as well as the ability to shut down the plant if anything "out of the ordinary" is noticed.

"If there is anything that might threaten the plant, the first step is to shut the reactor down," Eastman saidSen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, the sponsor of the bill, agreed with Eastman and said Missouri's energy future cannot be influenced by international events and that the option for nuclear power has to be left open.

"We have to continue to talk about what sources of energy we are going to get for this state," Kehoe said. "The unfortunate incident in Japan has not changed the fact that coal is a very expensive source that is under attack from various groups from A to Z, so the way we produce power in this state is, unfortunately, not going to be changed by what happens globally, and the demand for power in this state is going to continue to be there and continue to be a need that we need to address."

So far the Fukushima plant in Japan has suffered from three explosions, which have severely damaged three reactors and caused a fire in a fourth. Following last Friday's earthquake and subsequent tsunami, the Fukushima plant's cooling systems failed, causing spent fuel rods to spike in temperature, cracking the casings around the rods. Once the casings around the rods became damaged, Japanese officials believe that the rods, after coming into contact with the steam released hydrogen gas, which was then vented out of the reactors and caused the explosions.

Eastman, said that the utility provider is waiting for the legislation to make its way through the General Assembly so the company can keep the option of building another plant open. If the proposed legislation passes, Ameren would be allowed to apply for an early site permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as well as charge its ratepayers an additional two dollars for up to 20 years to pay for the construction of the new nuclear facility.

"No decision to build a second plant has been made, the whole legislation regarding the site permit is simply to keep the option open as we continue to look at what's the best thing to do for Missouri's energy future," Eastman said. "If we were to push forward with approved site permit legislation and Ameren Missouri were to file for an application [to build a plant], part of what we would use the three year NRC review time for is to look at all of the various technologies."

Kehoe said that despite general safety concerns, due to strict safety standards in the country, any nuclear plants that Ameren would build would be sufficiently safer then the Fukushima plant in Japan, which was built in 1967.

"It would be irresponsible for someone to say there are no safety concerns," Kehoe said. "There are always safety concerns when you build any kind of project...I think the facilities that we would go forward with would be engineered through the early site permit process to withstand any possible acts of nature that we could have."

The Fukushima Unit 1 reactor follows the Genereal Electric Mark 1 reactor design, making it a boiling water reactor meaning that the coolant water for spent fuel rods is also used for the steam turbine system, causing a high probability of radioactive contamination of the water. According to a report released by the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, a nuclear energy information and watchdog group, there are 23 similar reactors in the United States, four of which are located in Illinois. Unlike these reactors, Ameren's current Callaway plant is a pressurized water reactor, which separates the coolant water from the steam turbine system, reducing the risk of radioactive contamination.

At the committee hearing last Friday, Ameren's CEO, Warren Baxter promoted the benefits of a potential second Callaway plant in front of the Senate committee."[A site permit] gives us the opportunity to access federal incentives, which can save our customers money," Baxter said at the hearing. "Certainly there is no doubt that a nuclear plant could present a great economic development opportunity by creating thousand of clean energy jobs and hundreds, if not more, permanent jobs in the future."

Matthew Patane, Missouri Digital News
Photo: Callaway Nuclear Plant courtesy of Ameren

Read More