'Tornado Alley' reactor not fully twister-proof

[deminks]

Source: 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 power plant near Burlington 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 is being moved.

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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.

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Read more: http://cjonline.com/news/2011-05-26/tornado-alley-reactor-not-fully-twister-proof