Fort Calhoun: A Status Update
by Moderator
Lara Uselding
Public Affairs Officer, Region IV
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The NRC held a public meeting with Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) on March 27 to discuss the status of the Fort Calhoun nuclear
plant. The plant, just north of Omaha, Neb., has been shut down since
April 9, 2011, for a refueling outage. The outage was extended due to
historic flooding along the Missouri River followed by an electrical
fire that led to an “Alert” declaration and further restart
complications.
At
the March meeting, NRC oversight panel members shared that a 15-member
inspection team had been on site conducting a very thorough inspection
and independent verification of the plant’s current status.
Based
on the results of the team inspection activities, the NRC has found
there are a number of potential issues that appear to need licensing
actions. The NRC has scheduled a meeting with OPPD officials on April 22
to discuss four changes the licensee made to the plant that may have
required prior NRC approval.
The first involves a change made to the plant’s water intake structure, which was discussed in a recently issued report.
Secondly, OPPD used a method to evaluate systems, structures and
components for seismic conditions that was not part of their licensing
basis. Thirdly, they changed the method for analyzing the suitability of
piping systems without approval. Lastly, some plant equipment may not
be adequately protected from tornado-driven projectiles.
The meeting to discuss these issues is open to the public and details about the meeting can be found here.
The public is encouraged to contact the project managers to obtain
meeting materials prior to the meeting and to ensure they plan for the
appropriate number of bridge lines.
A second meeting
also is scheduled between NRC and OPPD on April 22. That meeting, to
discuss the ongoing review of flood mitigation activities, is closed to
the public due to sensitive security information being discussed.
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