Curt Casper
FORT CALHOUN (KPTM) - Every month the nuclear power plant near Fort Calhoun is closed OPPD officials say they are losing two to three millions dollars worth of energy.
This is a concern for them because already the flood damage has cost the company 76 million dollars.
The floodwater may have gone away but the effects of the flood still remain.
Now OPPD hopes to get the plant up and running before this summer.
Once the water went down, OPPD and its crew power washed the site, removing tons of silt.
Fort Calhoun representative Mike Bannister said, it wasn't about the damage caused to the plant, but instead cleaning up the debris.
"We had a number of people, we had everything from a front end loader to hand held shovels each day were moving the silt back to the water," Bannister said.
Despite their best efforts to clean up after the flood, evidence of it still remains. The silt line can still be seen on the cement blocks that were used to protect the nuclear plant.
"The plant is safe and it will continue to be safe," Bannister said.
Not so fast says Crystal Robinson of Blair. She is a little worried about her safety living only a few miles away from the plant.
"Supposedly they were safe before and then the flood comes in and all these big shot people come in and tell it is not up to code," She said.
Bannister told Fox 42 News the flood was a learning experience. They hope there isn't another flood, but they will be prepared if it happens again.
Federal regulators will be in town on January 19th to meet with OPPD about increasing oversight on the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant.
They are also asking the public to weigh in. The public meeting will be at the downtown Double Tree Hotel at six in the evening.
Regulators said they would keep a closer eye on the plant because of several problems unrelated to last summer's flooding.
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