River falls short of Nebraska nuke plant shutdown

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Missouri River rose to within 18 inches of forcing the shutdown of a nuclear power plant in southeast Nebraska, but stopped and ebbed slightly.

The river has to hit 902 feet above sea level at Brownville before officials will shut down the Cooper Nuclear Plant.

Nebraska Public Power District spokesman Mark Becker says the river rose to 900.56 feet on Sunday, then dropped to 900.4 feet later in the day and remained at that level Monday morning.

Becker says the plant is operating at full capacity.

The Columbus-based utility sent a “notification of unusual event” to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission when the river rose to 899 feet Sunday. The declaration is the least serious of four emergency notifications established by the federal commission.