Ft Calhoun Plant – Arial View

The Fort Calhoun nuclear plant reopened in December, 2013. The plant, on the west bank of the Missouri River about 20 miles north of Omaha, Nebraska, closed for refueling in April, 2011, and was flooded in June, 2011. Refueling a nuclear plant typically takes about 6 – 12 weeks. Due to the flooding, the Fort Calhoun plant was closed for 970 days, from April, 2011 until December, 2013. (NY Times / Associated Press, here). Back in June, 2011, the cost estimate by David Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists, was roughly $970 Million in lost revenue, plus the costs of repairs.

Ft Calhoun plant in the Missouri River

Understanding the implications of unforeseen events, knowing the “unknown unknowns,” as Donald Rumsfeld called them, is key to understanding nuclear power, and other systems. As these pictures indicate, one of the things we need to do as we prepare for sea level rise – our oceans in 2014 are 8 inches higher than they were in 1914 (EPA, here, National Geographic, here) – is flood-proof our nuclear power plants. Or decommission the nuclear plants and replace them with Solar, Wind, and Deep Geothermal.

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Posts in this series

J. Soroko & L. Furman, 6/25/11, Flooding at Nebraska Nuclear Power Plants,
L Furman, 6/29/11,  Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant – Update,
L Furman, 8/28/11, Nuclear Power, Natural Disasters, and Security,
L Furman, 12/19/12, Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant, Update,
L Furman, 3/16/13, Fort Calhoun – Still Shut Down – Since April, 2011,
L Furman, 7/24/13, Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Station: Offline Since April, 2011, Two Years Four Months, and Counting,
L Furman, 10/11/14, Ft. Calhoun Plant – Reopened After 2 Years 8 Months and $970 Million Plus,

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Larry Furman, B.S., M.B.A., an analyst with Popular Logistics, is available for consulting engagements and as a public speaker. He can be reached at “LFurman . MBA” at G Mail.