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Today's Poll!Missouri lawmakers not worried by Japanese disaster
A radiation detector marks 0.6 microsieverts on Tuesday, exceeding normal day data, near Shibuya train station in Tokyo. Photo by The Associated Press.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Even as Japanese officials struggle to control radiation leaks and possible meltdown problems at four nuclear power plants damaged by last week’s earthquakes and tsunami, Ameren Missouri utility officials said Tuesday they have little concern about similar problems occurring at the Callaway Nuclear Plant at Reform.
And, they and two state senators said, the Japanese situation shouldn’t affect the effort to get a site permit for a possible future reactor at the Mid-Missouri site.
“There’s good evidence that all of those (Japanese) plants successfully survived the earthquake and basically shut down automatically,” said Scott Bond, Ameren’s nuclear development manager based at the Callaway plant.
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Comments
hudson 2 years, 2 months ago
They have littel concern ! I guess that about says it !
whocares 2 years, 2 months ago
Yes it does. It shows that they have taken extra precautions to ensure your safety. Unless you are familiar with the plants designs, you have no business making comments about it.
whocares 2 years, 2 months ago
As long as your information is accurate it's not a problem. People spewing false information is the problem.
rodinman 2 years, 2 months ago
Will the two senators and the Ameren utility officials stay in the plant during a similar situtation -- their response should be the same as the decision to build (using Ameren money, not mine).
bluesfan13 2 years, 2 months ago
hudson and rodinman... 1.Callaway tops the NRC earthquake safety list as the least likely plant in the nation to be impacted by natural disaster. 2.Every day, more radioactive material is emitted into the atmosphere from coal burning power plants than from a year's worth of nuclear power. 3.Even in this worst case scenario in Japan, the total radioactive material release will be less than one year's worth of coal in the US. 4. Radioactivy levels at the gates of any of Ameren's coal-fired plants are higher than the radioactivity levels at the gates at Callaway. 5. Deaths due to coal energy generation each year are higher than deaths that have occurred over the lifetime of nuclear power.
JMO 2 years, 2 months ago
Chernobyl had no containment structure. It isn't the same thing at all.
JMO 2 years, 2 months ago
Uh, yes....Chernobyl was a nuclear facility. But was a totally different type of structure, with serious design flaws. Three Mile Island was the result of allowing the coolant getting too low, resulting in exposed rods and a partial meltdown. Containment held in that case and there was negligible radioactive material released. Not good, but certainly not a disaster.
rodinman 2 years, 2 months ago
If what you allege about the Three Mile Island nuclear facility is true then 1) cancer and death rates for those who lived in the area should mirror the nation's. 2) want to buy some property in the immediate area?
JMO 2 years, 2 months ago
I base my statement upon the study by the Nuclear Energy Institute. "The TMI accident caused no injuries, and at least a dozen epidemiological studies con-ducted since 1981 have found no discernible direct health effects to the population in the vicinity of the plant." It cites a number of studies. w w w .nei.org/filefolder/The_TMI_2_Accident_-_Its_Impact_Its_Lessons_1207logo.pdf
Do you have some other studies that show increased cancer and death rates? Because I've looked a bit, and never saw any. In fact, the only studies I've seen conclude that there was no harm to the public.
Oh, and I have never had any desire to live in central Pennsylvania, regardless of what happened there.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a huge fan of nuclear energy. I just feel that facts are better than panic.
bluesfan13 2 years, 2 months ago
If you need me to explain the difference between Chernobyl and the incident in Japan, and the design differences between the plants, then we're too far apart for this conversation to even continue. It's like saying that Ferrari's should be outlawed because of design vulnerabilities in Yugo's. I never said they "survived with no problems". Obviously those plants are done, and will never operate again.
bluesfan13 2 years, 2 months ago
Where are you getting this info from?..."are moving equipment into place to bury the whole earthquake proof facility after efforts to flood it have failed "... The last credible information I've seen (from mid-day yesterday) estimated that off-site electrical power would be restored to one or two reactor cooling pumps by later today. Reactor design itself is not what's led to this incident. The loss of off-site power, combined with the fact that their backup diesel generators (or at least all of the stored fuel) washed out to sea is what's at issue here.
Anonymous 2 years, 2 months ago
How accurate do you think the NRC is when they say it's least likely to be impacted by natural disaster...Do you remember the earthquake in Indiana a few years ago, place not known to be on any fault line, then determined that New Madrid seems to go deeper and farther than once expected....
whocares 2 years, 2 months ago
Ameren is not shipping in new fuel as we speak. Stop panicing and let the process take care of itself. It would be different if they were getting ready to load up a new reactor but come on, it's years away. Do you really think no one is looking at what's happening and evaluating it? Just because someone has a car accident doesn't mean all cars are stopped and verified to be safe in the event of another accident.
bluesfan13 2 years, 2 months ago
News agencies, enviroterrorists, and nuclear scientists are using different instances to show their points. By ALL accounts, "Successful shutdown" occurred. There is no denying or arguing that fact. It is what has happened after shutdown that is causing problems. FYI, there aren't "clouds of radiation", and any story that says as such is either pandering to the ignorant, or displaying a colossal lack of understanding. There could, at some point past or future, have been a cloud of radioactive material, but there is no such thing as a cloud of radiation.
online_editor 2 years, 2 months ago
Just to clarify... Shutdown is not quite like total shutoff, as in flipping off a light switch. Control rods are inserted into the nuclear fuel to slow the atomic reactions to a bare minimum, but there's still heat from the reactor that needs to be disbursed so that the remaining reactions will continue to diminish, which takes longer. In other words, the shutdown process in response to the earthquake worked as designed. But, because of damage from the subsequent tsunami, keeping things cool afterwards has been full of problems that can, potentially, cascade out of control. The latest and perhaps biggest danger as of this writing appears to be the water cooling the spent (used up) fuel rods kept in nearby storage pools apart from the reactor. If the water's boiling away and the fuel casings melt, that could lead to a large release of potentially fatal radiation and total evacuation of the complex.
rmsberengaria 2 years, 2 months ago
I have a question. Could someone tell me what is going on with the three stately apartment buildings south of the Main Post Office on High Street fronting Washington street? Noticed that the doors have plywood up and they appear to be empty. Maybe there was something in the paper that I missed.
muleman 2 years, 2 months ago
Does the safety of Calloway plant have anything to do with lawmakers getting re-elected, or more money for them to blow, or add money to Nixons travel budget? NO! Thats why they are not concerned
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