American Fukushima Developing?

Nuclear Station Berm Collapses

By Ron Freeman
opednews.com
June 26, 2011 at 17:02:23

A 2,000 foot berm, protecting the Ft. Calhoun (Nebraska) Nuclear Power Plant collapsed around 1:30 AM Sunday morning. As usual, the Officials state "not to worry" everything is just fine. The headline on the Omaha World Herald Sunday edition is "Flooding: The worst is yet to come". In this article, the Army Corps of Engineers state that less than 1/3 of the upstream water has been released and heavy rains continue. NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko will visit the plant Monday.

The dams holding back the flood waters on the longest river in the United States are under unprecedented stress. For a very good report on the problems that are coming into play, see the following video:



Brig. Gen. John McMahon, commander of the corps' Northwestern
Division stated "It's going to be a devastating season in terms of how the levees do" In other words, levees are failing every day and this will only get worse. New sections of Interstate 29 have been closed and US Highway 30 is close to being closed, due to a levee failure on Saturday. In some cases, one has to travel in excess of 100 miles to find a bridge or road open to cross the Missouri River.

As I stated in a previous article, the Ft. Calhoun Nuclear Plant is in danger only if the river experiences a sudden surge of perhaps ten feet. No one can (or will) state that one or more of the dams upstream are not going to experience a catastrophic collapse. As stated in the You Tube video, if this happens, it will be the most expensive disaster in American History. Should a dam burst, the wall of water coming down the Missouri River would wash away two nuclear power stations. An event no one can fathom. The Missouri River dams constitute the largest system of reservoirs in the United States.

We continue to receive heavy rains, both in Nebraska and all the way into Montana, which is just as bad. It all has to go into the Missouri River. On Saturday AM, parts of Omaha received 3 inches of rain; more is forecast for Sunday night and Monday.

Partial meltdown hits Fukushima nuclear plant

By David McNeill in Tokyo
Friday, 13 May 2011
The Independent Asia

Uranium fuel in at least one of the six reactors at Fukushima has melted, the operator of the crippled nuclear plant has said. The admission effectively torpedoes a plan to flood the overheating fuel with water and bring a quick end to the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) said water levels have fallen at least one metre below fuel rods inside Reactor 1 and that melted fuel has dropped to the bottom of the reactor's containment vessel. Engineers are working inside the reactor building for the first time since the crisis began when a hydrogen explosion blew off its roof following the huge quake and tsunami on 11 March.

Tepco general manager Junichi Matsumoto told reporters in Tokyo that the discovery means its timetable to entomb the containment reactor vessel in water may have to be scrapped. "We can't deny the possibility that a hole in the pressure vessel caused water to leak," Mr Matsumoto said.

Observers fear that Reactor 3, which contains MOX plutonium fuel, may have also suffered a meltdown, and the situation inside Reactor 2 is still shrouded in mystery.

"The situation is clearly far more serious than previously reported, and could escalate rapidly if the lava melts through the reactor vessel," warned Jan Beránek of Greenpeace.


Fukushima - One Step Forward and Four Steps Back as Each Unit Challenged by New Problems from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.