OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – The Omaha Public Power District says its massive decommissioning project at the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant is wrapping up nearly a decade after the facility shut down.
In 2016, OPPD’s Board of Directors made the decision to shut down Fort Calhoun Station. They cited economics, saying low natural gas prices and rising operational costs made it too expensive to keep running. The plant closed that October.
The first phase focused on removing fuel from the reactor. Crews moved it to a spent fuel pool to keep it cool, then into dry storage. That process finished in May 2020.
Since then, the focus shifted to demolishing the buildings and structures. Crews have spent the last five to six years taking down components and sending them off for safe disposal.
The cleanup has cost more than a billion dollars and faced multiple obstacles over the years.
“Think about the last nine and a half, 10 years. We had COVID, we’ve had flooding, we’ve had severe weather, supply chain challenges. All of those things have come up, and all of those things we worked together committed to overcoming,” said Tim Uehling, OPPD senior director of FCS decommissioning.
The decommissioning should be complete by late this year. Most of the site will return to greenfield status, an open field available for whatever best fits the community’s needs.
OPPD will maintain one section where the substation and used fuel storage are located.
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