Ameren: Missouri River no threat to Callaway plant safety
While flood waters surround one Nebraska nuclear power station like a moat and lap at the doorstep of the other, no sandbags are being stockpiled at Ameren Missouri‘s Callaway plant — the third U.S. nuclear plant located along the swollen Missouri River.
Callaway is located six miles from the river and, more importantly, was built on a plateau that should keep it out of harms way no matter how much the river rises, utility officials say.
Even if every Missouri River dam failed, Callaway would be more than 200 feet above water, Adam C. Heflin, Ameren’s chief nuclear officer, said during a media briefing earlier this year.
Heflin’s comments came just a week after the earthquake and disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex began to unfold in an effort to reassure Missourians that the state’s lone power reactor was prepared for disaster.
The disasters most discussed at the time were earthquakes. These days, it’s flooding.
While Callaway should remain dry in any event, the utility keeps close tabs on river levels, monitoring data from the Corps of Engineers on a daily basis, said Scott Bond, the utility’s manager for nuclear development.
The 1,200-megawatt plant, which provides about 20 percent of Ameren Missouri’s generating capacity, relies on river water — about 25,000 to 30,000 gallons-a-minute — for cooling. There are three large pumps near river level that help move water uphill to the plant. If the water rises too high, the pumps could become inoperable and the plant could be forced to shut down.
But they see no immediate threat for now.
Callaway operated throughout the flooding of 1993 when the Missouri River at Jefferson City crested at 38.3 feet — almost 15 feet above flood stage. The river is currently at 24.8 feet and is expected to approach almost 29 feet this weekend before it begins to recede.
The pumps are currently 25 feet above the river, according to Ameren.
They aren’t necessary to shut the plant safely, Bond said.
Federal regulations require nuclear plants to keep a 30-day supply of water in an emergency pond to provide cooling during shutdown. And the supply of water in Callaway’s emergency pond – a 7-acre lake – is 10 feet above what’s required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, he said.
Bond said the pond is tested to ensure adequate water is available in any weather conditions.
The cooling pond hasn’t yet been required under emergency conditions, Bond said. But it is tested and has been used to shut down the Callaway under in certain situations, such as when the plant’s cooling tower is drained.
