The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has sent a special team of inspectors to Nebraska to learn more about a fire that disrupted power to the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station's spent fuel pool in June.
The pool was without electricity for about 90 minutes, which halted active cooling of the pool. According to federal regulators and the Omaha Public Power District, the fuel wasn't in danger of overheating, because the pool retained more than 80 hours of residual cooling ability.
The plant, about 20 miles north of Omaha, is owned by OPPD.
The fire occurred about 9:30 a.m. on June 7 in a switchgear room.
When the OPPD fire crew responded, it found a room filled with smoke but no fire, according to the report filed with regulators. The fire-suppressant gas Halon did discharge into the room, and because the gas is potentially toxic, crews had to ventilate the room before they could fully check the situation, according to the incident report on file with the NRC.
The plant was off-line at the time of the fire. The reactor had been shut down in April for routine maintenance. The day before the fire, flooding from the Missouri River had gotten high enough that OPPD notified federal regulators that it was instituting the lowest of its four emergency classifications.
Both the NRC and OPPD say the fire was unrelated to the flooding.
OPPD has told federal officials that the fire was due to a short in an electrical breaker, said Victor Dricks, spokesman for the NRC. He said the agency is sending a special team because the fire was serious enough to prompt an alert at the station.
The three-month delay between the fire and the inspection is related to the flooding, Dricks said. The agency was allowing OPPD time to battle the flood before instituting a special inspection.
The NRC has said the plant will not be allowed to resume operations until it's known what caused the fire.
OPPD has estimated that equipment replacement related to the fire could cost $1 million.
The plant has been downgraded and is under intense review by regulators for two other problems, one having to do with flood preparations and the other having to do with a bad electrical connector. Dricks said this special team is unrelated to those problems.
Contact the writer: 402-444-1102, nancy.gaarder@owh.com
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