By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Worries that the Cooper Nuclear Power Plant near Brownville, Nebraska would have to shut down have lessened as the projected crest of the Missouri River has dropped.

Nebraska Public Power District spokesman Mark Becker says the plant remains up and running at full capacity.

“Cooper nuclear station in Brownville is operating today at 100% as it has over the entire weekend,” according to Becker. “The levels for any kind of possible shutdown were never reached over the weekend. As a matter of fact, the water levels on the Missouri River have dropped.”

The National Weather Service reports the Missouri River is just below 26 feet at St. Joseph with an expected crest of 27.4 feet late Thursday.

Simply put, though the rising Missouri River threatened operations of the plant, it never rose high enough to shut down the plant.

“That’s primarily due to some levees that have collapsed on the Iowa side of the river and, of course, at Cooper, our levee on the Nebraska side is higher than what’s on the Missouri side, so water is flowing over the levee on the Missouri side onto the floodplain,” Becker says.

Cooper declared an “unusual event” when the Missouri River rose to 899 feet at the plant. The river level never reached 900 feet at the plant. The nuclear plant has to shut down when the level reaches 901.5 feet.

Essential staff remained at the plant this weekend. Non-essential staff are not required to come to the plant. Floodwaters overflowed Highway 136, cutting off access to Brownville from the Missouri side.