Regulators to review handling of water problem at nuke plant

BROWNVILLE - Federal inspectors plan to review how well a Nebraska utility handled a water service safety problem blamed on a silt buildup from the Missouri River.

The river overwhelmed levees along its length last spring. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a news release Thursday that the Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville was operating December 6th when employees detected that water wasn't flowing through a pipe connected to one of two safety generators.

The other generator was available. Nebraska Public Power District soon determined that silt had built up and blocked the pipe outfall. The district had the silt removed within a week.