JEFFERSON CITY, MO -- Rick Eastman with Ameren Missouri said they're prepared to avoid a disaster like the one in Japan. Reactors in the devastated country have been near meltdown since the earthquake because cooling systems are failing.
Missourians do have reason to take note of the Japanese disaster because we live within a few hundred miles of the New Madrid Fault.
Eastman said they've taken extra precautions to avoid the potential problems an earthquake could cause, “We have backup emergency diesel generators to supply emergency power, we have backup cooling water sources for emergencies and multiple ways we can safely shut the plant down in the event of natural disaster.”
In Japan they're using sea water to cool the reactors. The massive amount of water needed for the cooling system at Callaway comes from the Missouri River a few miles from the plant.
He says there's even a backup plan for the backup plan, “If we were to lose that ability to pump that water from the river, we have on site storage and ponds, big storage retention ponds, that we can use with our emergency pumps and backup cooling tower to safely cool down the reactor.”
The Callaway Plant also has seismic detection equipment that will automatically shut the plant down if an earthquake is detected. The Japanese nuclear plants are about 13 years older than Callaway, and are now causing not only a safety concern, but could cause a major threat to the nation’s economy because the energy shortages could hurt major industry.
UPDATE: 3-14-2010, 9:20 P.M
Since the earthquake in Japan viewers have written KRCG concerned about the Callaway Nuclear Plant.
Tonight on KRCG News we ask Ameren what they’re doing to prevent a meltdown in the event the New Madrid fault triggers a major quake.
Post a comment and tell us what you want to know.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKRCG