KANSAS CITY — President Barack Obama has agreed to a request by Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback to name four counties along the Missouri River as part of a federal disaster area. Doniphan, Atchison, Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties were named because of flooding along the Missouri River. Brownback specifically asked for shelter supplies such as food, water and generators to support long-term operations of shelters in Doniphan Leavenworth counties with the ability to set up additional shelters in Atchison and Wyandotte counties. He also asked for federal help in finding a loose and floating dock in the Leavenworth County to prevent potential damage to levees, bridges and cities’ water intakes. In addition, ABC News reported a flood barrier at the Fort Calhoun nuclear station in Nebraska collapsed Sunday, forcing workers to switch to emergency generators. ABC reported that workers appear to have the flooding at the plant under control for now today. Gregory Jaczko, the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is visiting the plant today. ”Mother Nature takes care of the floods so we have to do the best we can to make sure we’re prepared and all the plants in the us have been designed to deal with historically the largest possible floods,” Jaczko said. The plant had been shutdown for refueling since April and hasn’t restarted, but critics have expressed alarm because of a fire two weeks ago that caused a brief shutdown in a cooling system and a rise in temperature in the containment area for spent fuel rods. The plant’s operator, Nebraska Public Power, said that no radiation has been released and none is expected. Paul Gunter, with anti-nuclear group, “Beyond Nuclear,” says the plant was cited last year for failing to have proper flood control standards. He said he’s skeptical of the utility’s to deal with the situation. “Now we’re relying upon the operator to be responsible enough to have brought those non-compliances and address them by plugging the holes in this plant,” Gunter said. If water does penetrate into the reactor itself that it could encroach upon electrical circuits, junction boxes on safety-related equipment, he said. A second Nebraska reactor at Coopers Point is also fighting flooding and declared an unusual event.
Monday, June 27, 8 a.m.
