Don’t be surprised if problems at the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant get worse before they get better.

That’s the message from William Borchardt, the head of operations at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. According to Borchardt problems at Fort Calhoun didn’t happen overnight and “it’s unlikely they’ll be fixed overnight.” He also said it’s likely new issues will crop up over the next several weeks.

During a meeting at its headquarters outside of Washington on Wednesday, the NRC politely, calmly but very pointedly read the riot act to the folks from the Omaha Public Power District who run Fort Calhoun.

At the same time, as Nebraska Watchdog first reported, OPPD President Gary Gates (see his comments below) told the NRC “we lost our edge” when it comes to running the reactor.

Gates apologized for problems at the plant. Fort Calhoun has been shut down for nearly 10 months, much of that because of the Flood of 2011, with no restart date in sight.

For the first time though the NRC said because of other “significant challenges” at the plant, including a fire in June of last year, Fort Calhoun would have been shutdown even without the flood.

Still one of the major issues facing the plant is a direct result of last year’s record flooding along the Missouri River.

Troy Pruett of the NRC says “soil compaction under the facility” is a critical concern and the subject of at least one more major inspection.

During a hearing in Omaha last month some members of the public questioned if the flood has made the ground underneath the Fort Calhoun reactor unstable.

Reported by Joe Jordan, joe@nebraskawatchdog.org

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Editor’s note: Video is of OPPD President and CEO Gary Gates before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (pictures of Fort Calhoun are during the Flood of 2011).

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