Is the New Channel Impacting Nebraska's Nuclear Plant Operations?

[NUCENG]

Follow-up actions at Ft Calhoun. Note: the Confirmatory Action Letter was not yet available on ADAMS.

http://public-blog.nrc-gateway.gov/...ecovery-begins-at-fort-calhoun-nuclear-plant/

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2011/11-039.iv.pdf

http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1122/ML112231755.pdf

 

[tasp77]

Sorry to have to report this, there is definitely a new channel of the Missouri River that has formed due to the recent flooding.

Approximately 1/2 mile south of the highway 30 bridge over the Missouri, at Blair Nebraska, a few miles upstream of the Ft. Calhoun facility, the new channel heads almost due east into a cornfield, coincidentally, the largest one currently in the state of Iowa. The channel within a mile of the Missouri branches into two channels, and has formed an island of a small hill in the field, the 2 branches reconnect on the east side of the small hill, and then head south, and then it has cut through the access road for DeSoto Bend National Wildlife Refuge. The channel then flows through the existing cutoff lake around DeSoto, and exits that lake a couple miles south and rejoins the Missouri River a few miles downstream of the Ft. Calhoun generating station. With the current high levels of the Missouri, there will be sufficient flow for the cooling water needs of the plant after restart. Not sure what this new channel will mean with typical (not this year) low flow rates during the summer, however. Ft. Calhoun might go from way too much water now to maybe not quite enough later.

There was some confusion about this new channel, it was believed to have been forming right at the east end of the highway 30 bridge, but when the water dropped, that incipient flow ceased. Then the flow south of there was noted.

The new channel at the upstream end is roughly 300 feet wide, and is around 45 feet deep. And the current is still eroding it out larger. Just a rough guess on my part, but the flow might be around 15% of the total Missouri flow at that point.

There is a coalition of area farmers that are accumulating materials and equipment for an attempt to plug the new channel when the Missouri drops another 2 feet or so around the end of the month of September.

Let's hope they succeed.

 

[NUCENG]

Follow up. the CAL is here:

http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1124/ML112490164.pdf

 

[gmax137]

...

Thanks for the info, tasp77. Do you live nearby Ft Calhoun or Blair? I can't find any info on this new channel using google news.

 

[robinson]

I saw an article in the Omaha press.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110618/NEWS01/706189893

 

[gmax137]

Thanks, robinson, but that article is datelined
"Published Saturday June 18, 2011"

edit -- I'm not doubting the 'new channel', I'm just looking for more details.

 

[tasp77]

I travel through Blair Nebraska at least weekly, and have been driving by the Ft. Calhoun Generating Facility. I can see the plant from my home.

If you know where to look, when driving over the highway 30 bridge over the Missouri River, the break in the tree line along the 'old' channel is evident. Just east of the bridge, there is a site line through that gap, and the west bank of the 'old' channel (and the ethanol plant) can be seen. Further east on highway 30 (about a mile from the bridge) the channel on the east side of the little hill can be seen running southwards.

The rest of the details of the new channel, cutting the DeSoto road, flow through the old cutoff, and rejoining the Missouri south of the power plant have been noted by the locals involved in the flood fight. Access to various places along the river is difficult, roads and landmarks have been erased, and dangerous scour holes abound.

I am speculating here, as I am not a staffer of the plant or the NRC, but the major concern of lower possible flows past the plant might have to do with the waste heat dumped into the river coolant, and the increased thermal/reduced oxygenation resulting. There are some endangered fish and birds (pallid sturgeon and some kind of plover, as I recall). The Ft. Calhoun plant, as I recall, at 500MW, is the smallest operating (or would be operating if they do the restart) plant in the country. So the problem would be most apparent during low summer flows (assuming we ever get a 'normal' hot dry summer in this area again).

I suppose it seems somewhat odd to the rest of you that a 'problem' like this with a nuclear facility is going to be fixed by a bunch of farmers with tractors and shovels, but for around here, that would be pretty much business as usual. If anything goes horribly wrong, I'll post something about it here.

 

[gmax137]

Thanks tasp77 - I sure hope you didn't think I was doubting you. And as far as farmers go, if you want something done (actually done instead of discussed) then they are the kind of people you need.

 

[tasp77]

The Army Corp of Engineers flat out told Senators Harkin, Grassley, Johanns, and Nelson to not even both asking for help as they don't have any money.

The Missouri was at or above flood stage for 104 days (at Omaha) and the national media coverage was minimal.

Regardless of their skill set, a 300 foot wide channel upwards of 50 feet deep is going to be challenging to fix for a 'bunch of farmers'.

The capricious aspects of the Missouri are fascinating, but the complication of the river doing its' little rant with a nuclear power plant nearby makes it a little more sobering . . .

 

[NUCENG]

The Army Corp of Engineers flat out told Senators Harkin, Grassley, Johanns, and Nelson to not even both asking for help as they don't have any money.

The Missouri was at or above flood stage for 104 days (at Omaha) and the national media coverage was minimal.

Regardless of their skill set, a 300 foot wide channel upwards of 50 feet deep is going to be challenging to fix for a 'bunch of farmers'.

The capricious aspects of the Missouri are fascinating, but the complication of the river doing its' little rant with a nuclear power plant nearby makes it a little more sobering . . .

Fort Calhoun's reconery plan includes reevaluation of the flood design basis. See 4.4 Item 2
http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1122/ML112231755.pdf

Also, NRC has sceduked a trieennial Hat Sink Performance Inspection for November:

http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/fcs_2011q2.pdf

and:

http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1008/ML100820347.pdf

Under the CAL closure process NRC will be reviewing issue identification and correction actions by OPPD.

If you feel the activities above are insufficient to address the new channel impact on Fort Calhoun, see:

http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/regulatory/allegations/safety-concern.html.

 

[tasp77]

Precise flow rates for the new channel would be unknowable till the new channel stabilizes. Since meanderings of the lower Missouri River essentially stopped with the completion of the Pick-Sloan dams decades ago, there really isn't a modern knowledge base of what to expect regarding that process. The new channel appears to be longer than the segment of the Missouri River it is bypassing, so the fall per mile is lower than the main channel. An 'Old Timer' in the area asserts this will prevent the main channel of the river from transferring to the new channel, as the river will seek the path of least resistance, and the river also 'prefers' a constant fall per mile also. (I'm sure there are posters here that can explain the hydrodynamics of all that for us if needed).

Flow rates from Gavin's Point Dam are very available; internet, phone, etc., and plant management could also walk out to the river and see if there is any water there, so they would always be able to synchronize their power generation (and heat sink requirements) to the available flow past their facility.

The Army Corp Of Engineers has made it abundantly clear they manage the river strictly for the benefit of upstream recreation, nonexistent downstream barge traffic, and wildlife concerns. Like area residents and farmers, OPPD will adapt.