Update: the “Obama ordered a news blackout” story seems to be a complete fabrication created by an either politically motivated or bored (probably the former) person. Apologies. If anyone has any more info on this story, please drop it in the comments below. For a thorough look at some internet rumors and official responses, check out this Nebraska nuclear story.
One of our most popular stories over the past week was about a Nebraska nuclear power plant (or two, actually) at risk of some serious problems. A ton of people have been coming to our site via Google searches related to that for days. Normally, with such big news, we have to compete with other leading news sites for such views and may get a lot fo traffic for awhile, but generally not for several days. But, that didn’t seem to happen this time. Turns out, there may have been an obvious reason for that.
“A shocking report prepared by Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency (FAAE) on information provided to them by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) states that the Obama regime has ordered a ‘total and complete’ news blackout relating to any information regarding the near catastrophic meltdown of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant located in Nebraska,” The Nation reports.
“According to this report, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant suffered a ‘catastrophic loss of cooling’ to one of its idle spent fuel rod pools on 7 June after this plant was deluged with water caused by the historic flooding of the Missouri River which resulted in a fire causing the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) to issue a ‘no-fly ban’ over the area.”
Yeah, that’s the story. While I won’t complain about all the extra readers we attracted from this story, it is concerning to read that a “news blackout” on this important topic was ordered.
Sure, we don’t want people getting too upset and don’t want chaos to ensue. But we DO want people to be informed, and we want people to be informed on the risks and near-catastrophes related to nuclear power plants in the U.S.
The nuclear industry wants everyone to think that nuclear is safe and secure and wonderful. But it’s not. And that’s the bottom line.
We need to get off coal, but we can easily do so with solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro energy if we put the right policies in place. Doesn’t look like the Obama administration is ready to drop nuclear yet though, unfortunately.
More from the nation on the Russian report:
Located about 20 minutes outside downtown Omaha, the largest city in Nebraska, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant is owned by Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) who on their website denies their plant is at a “Level 4” emergency by stating: “This terminology is not accurate, and is not how emergencies at nuclear power plants are classified.”
Russian atomic scientists in this FAAE report, however, say that this OPPD statement is an “outright falsehood” as all nuclear plants in the world operate under the guidelines of the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) which clearly states the “events” occurring at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant do, indeed, put it in the “Level 4” emergency category of an “accident with local consequences” thus making this one of the worst nuclear accidents in US history.
Though this report confirms independent readings in the United States of “negligible release of nuclear gasses” related to this accident it warns that by the Obama regimes censoring of this event for “political purposes” it risks a “serious blowback” from the American public should they gain knowledge of this being hidden from them.
Photo via U.S. Army Corps of Engineer/Wikimedia Commons
@rhondawinter OH, Thanks for the note! (love her, but don’t keep up with the show :D)
Dr. Rachel Maddow covered this flooded Nebraska nuclear plant story on her show all last week:
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/23/6926816-whats-scary-and-not-about-the-nebraska-nukes
China forges ahead, even with thorium fueled CANDU reactors. (In China, Google and see!) Their goal: Plutonium free, benign waste fuel, efficient heat sources for the generation of electricity, mostly to power their electric bullet-train networks and subsequent electric powered infrastructures, the back-bone of their new empire. Canada must follow China in this endeavor, in order to satisfy the astounding and persistent demand for our oil, south of the border. We may even become a net energy exporter to the U.S., furnishing them thorium fueled nuclear electric power, allowing them to continue the current “American Dream” lifestyle, and allowing Canadians to enjoy the finest medical plan in the world, perhaps even a free dental plan, as already proposed by McGuinty, Prime Minister of Ontario, for all school age children to start with. Combine this with McGuinty’s currently expanding plan for free, full-day schooling in Ontario, kindergarten to secondary school and likely beyond, and we have the ultimate socialist ‘equalizer’. beware Harper’s strident, Jack-Boot approach to unions in Canada. Your paycheck may be next! Even dividend collectors must look closely at the power they have unleashed here! Harper can turn on even them in an instant, showing his true Multi-national Cor[orate colors, and dousing any chances for even the smaller investors in Canada. What to do with all those well educated Canadians? Grants to develop Canada of course, all paid by royalties on U.S, oil sales, naturally. Keep Canada’s water-ways clean of humanure! Bio-Gassify it to methane and process the sludge to top-soil building fertilizer – Oslo, capital city of Norway can show the way! Every economy we make is heeded, We still have old folks at the food banks, where I live. Some of them are not getting proper nutrition. Harper! Take note! We are counting on you to do the right thing, not to sell out! The U.S.A coca-Cola Corpocracy cannot be trusted to even tell the truth! Even defending faulty American designed Uranium fed, plutonium making, dangerous waste producing, Fuckoshima styled GE MK5 types of reactors to the bitter end. Time for McGuinty of Ontario to end the nuclear romance with the U.S.A., and investigate the new Chinese Thorium notions. I live 80 miles by air from Darlington. Goddammit!
A quick Google search turned up numerous media articles concurrent with the date of the fire. There goes the Nation’s (pseudo) Scoop on the (fictitious) total blackout.
FreddieVee