Federal regulators have downgraded the flood-idled nuclear power plant 20 miles north of Omaha, ranking it as one of the two poorest performing reactors in the United States.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in a letter to the Omaha Public Power District released Tuesday, faulted Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station for the performance of its safety systems — those needed to prevent potential problems from becoming potentially catastrophic.
The U.S. has 104 licensed nuclear reactors, and Fort Calhoun is now in a category with one other plant that in laymen's terms could be considered a letter grade of “D.” No plants have an “F,” which requires a plant be shut down.
Fort Calhoun already was under heightened supervision as the Fukushima disaster unfolded in Japan because it was one of three reactors at the time being closely monitored by American regulators.
This move is a step below where the OPPD plant was then.
Officials with the utility say they realize they have issues to address.
Gary Gates, president and chief executive officer, and David Bannister, chief nuclear officer, said they are committed to getting Fort Calhoun back to a higher grade and are confident in the utility's ability to do so.
Gates and Bannister said the plant will not resume operations until they can prove to themselves and federal regulators that it is safe to do so.
Lara Uselding, spokeswoman for the NRC, said the downgrade is the result of two specific problems in safety systems at the plant.
One had to do with a bad contact in an electrical system the NRC said OPPD failed to act aggressively enough to address. The other had to do with flood preparations before the current flooding.
That discovery by federal regulators resulted in major improvements to the plant's flood protections before the Missouri River rose.
“They will have to work very hard,” Uselding said. “We definitely want to see improvements in performance and ability to address these issues.”
The NRC noted in its letter that Fort Calhoun has been safely operated. Otherwise, based on the way the federal regulatory process works, it would have given OPPD the equivalent of an “F.”
Late last week, the NRC gave OPPD the green light to take steps toward resuming normal operations at the reactor. Uselding said that decision, a separate matter, put in writing the steps OPPD agreed to take before the plant can be brought back on line.
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402-444-1102, nancy.gaarder@owh.com
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