Nuclear power plant at risk from twisters

Photo by: DAVID EULITT

AP

Photo

FILE - This Jan. 11, 2000, file photo shows the Wolf Creek Nuclear power plant near New Strawn, Kan., which went online in 1985. The Wolf Creek plant, the closest nuclear power plant to the tornado-ravaged city of Joplin, Mo., was singled out weeks before the deadly storm for being vulnerable to twisters. Inspections triggered by the Japan nuclear crisis found that some emergency equipment and storage sites at the plant in southeastern Kansas might not survive a tornado. (AP Photo/Capital Journal, David Eulitt, File)

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The closest nuclear power plant to tornado-ravaged Joplin, Mo., was singled out weeks before the storm for being vulnerable to twisters.

Inspections triggered by Japan’s nuclear crisis found that some emergency equipment and storage sites at the Wolf Creek nuclear plant in southeastern Kansas might not survive a tornado.

Specifically, plant operators and federal inspectors said Wolf Creek did not secure equipment and vehicles needed to fight fires, retrieve fuel for emergency generators and resupply water to keep nuclear fuel cool as it’s being moved.

Despite these findings, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission concluded that the plant met requirements put in place after the Sept. 11 attacks that are designed to keep the nuclear fuel cool and containment structures intact during an emergency.

Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp., which runs the facility about 150 miles northwest of Joplin, said it would take action to correct the problems.

“The issues affected only one of several [emergency] procedures, so we continue to conclude Wolf Creek meets requirements, the same conclusion we’ve reached for every U.S. plant,” said Scott Burnell, a NRC spokesman.

Wolf Creek, until recently, was one of three nuclear plants placed on a federal watch list in March for safety-related issues.

David Lochbaum, a former nuclear-plant engineer who now works on nuclear safety for the advocacy group Union of Concerned Scientists, said the equipment that a tornado could disable is the “backup of backups,” but that potential should raise concern nonetheless.

“It’s kind of nuclear safety 101,” Lochbaum said. “It’s kind of stupid for it to be there, where it could help with a tornado, and a tornado takes it out.”

Already this year, tornadoes have knocked out power to nuclear power plants in Alabama and Virginia, exposing vulnerabilities.