Breaking News: Flood Wall Fails At Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant by TheIntelHub

A flood wall at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant has failed, leading many to speculate as to the consequences. (Omaha.com)

Floodwaters surrounded several buildings at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station early Sunday morning after a water-filled wall collapsed.

The plant, about 19 miles north of Omaha, remains safe, Omaha Public Power District officials said Sunday afternoon.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is monitoring the Missouri River at the plant, which has been shut down since early April for refueling. The 2,000-foot berm collapsed about 1:25 a.m. Sunday due to “onsite activities,” OPPD officials said. The Aqua Dam provided supplemental flood protection and was not required under NRC regulations.

Considering the face that the NRC has a long history of cover ups, it seems safe to say that whether or not the plant was safe, the NRC would claim the situation is under control.

Another report from the Associated Press quotes the NRC as well.

FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (AP) – A berm holding back floodwater at the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station has collapsed.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it’s monitoring the Missouri River flooding at the plant, which has been shut down since early April for refueling.

The 2,000-foot berm collapsed about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, allowing the swollen river to surround two buildings at the plant. The NRC says those buildings are designed to handle flooding up to 1014 feet above sea level. The river is at 1006.3 feet and isn’t forecast to exceed 1008 feet.

Recent independent radiation reports have shown normal background radiation levels which indicates that there most likely has not been a release of radiation from the plant, at least not yet.

Mike Rivero of WhatReallyHappened.com has written a much more likely analysis. The external power we were told could not fail … has failed. Fort Calhoun’s cooling system is running on the emergency backup generators. They have fuel for 88 hours (less the time they have already been operating) unless the flood waters short out and shut down the generators or pumps.

So basically, the nuclear power plants the US Government told us were safe are in danger of a major radiation release because the heavy snow pack the US Government told us was a thing of the past has produced heavy flooding which has overwhelmed toe flood controls systems the US Government assured us did not need repairs or upgrades.

That about sum it up? Whether or not this news will cause a release of radiation is unknown but you can be sure that The Intel Hub will bring you tests and information independent of the NRC and the corporate controlled media.

PNAC Cabal Warns US Congress to Back Off Over Libya by Steve Watson

    Congratulations to Steven Watson for finally naming the globalists, this is an important step in the corrective direction.

"In response, earlier this week, forty-one PNAC alumni, including Paul Wolfowitz, James Woolsey, Karl Rove, William Kristol, Liz Cheney and Robert Kagan, signed the letter (PDF) stating:

“The United States should be leading in this effort, not trailing behind our allies. We should be doing more to help the Libyan opposition, which deserves our support. We should not be allowing ourselves to be held hostage to U.N. Security Council resolutions and irresolute allies.”

In what is clearly a veiled threat, the group called on the United States to “see this effort in Libya through to its conclusion,” adding: ” For the United States and NATO to be defeated by Muammar al-Qaddafi would suggest that American leadership and resolution were now gravely in doubt—a conclusion that would undermine American influence and embolden our nation’s enemies.”

They urged Members of Congress to fully support U.S. military involvement in Libya and exhibit “moral leadership despite political pressures to do otherwise.”(1)

An Open Letter to House Republicans

June 20, 2011

We thank you for your leadership as Congress exercises its Constitutional responsibilities on the issue of America's military actions in Libya. We are gravely concerned, however, by news reports that Congress may consider reducing or cutting funding for U.S. involvement in the NATO-led military operations against the oppressive regime of Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi. Such a decision would be an abdication of our responsibilities as an ally and as the leader of the Western alliance. It would result in the perpetuation in power of a ruthless dictator who has ordered terrorist attacks on the United States in the past, has pursued nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, and who can be expected to return to these activities should he survive. To cut off funding for current efforts would, in short, be profoundly contrary to American interests.

We share the concerns of many in Congress about the way in which the Obama administration has conducted and justified this operation. The problem is not that the President has done too much, however, but that he has done too little to achieve the goal of removing Qaddafi from power. The United States should be leading in this effort, not trailing behind our allies. We should be doing more to help the Libyan opposition, which deserves our support. We should not be allowing ourselves to be held hostage to U.N. Security Council resolutions and irresolute allies.

What would be even worse, however, would be for the United States to become one of those irresolute allies. The United States must see this effort in Libya through to its conclusion. Success is profoundly in our interests and in keeping with our principles as a nation. The success of NATO’s operations will influence how other Middle Eastern regimes respond to the demands of their people for more political rights and freedoms. For the United States and NATO to be defeated by Muammar al-Qaddafi would suggest that American leadership and resolution were now gravely in doubt—a conclusion that would undermine American influence and embolden our nation’s enemies.

In Speaker Boehner’s June 14, 2011, letter to President Obama, he wrote that he believes “in the moral leadership our country can and should exhibit, especially during such a transformational time in the Middle East.” We share that belief, and feel that now is the time for Congress to exhibit that moral leadership despite political pressures to do otherwise.

Sincerely,

Elliott Abrams
Bruce Pitcairn Jackson
Danielle Pletka
Gary Bauer
Ash Jain
John Podhoretz
Max Boot
Frederick Kagan
Stephen G. Rademaker
Ellen Bork
Robert Kagan
Karl Rove
Scott Carpenter
Lawrence Kaplan
Randy Scheunemann
Liz Cheney
William Kristol
Gary Schmitt
Seth Cropsey
Robert Lieber
Dan Senor
Thomas Donnelly
Tod Lindberg
Michael Singh
Eric Edelman
Michael Makovsky
Henry D. Sokolski
Jamie Fly
Ann Marlowe
Marc Thiessen
Reuel Marc Gerecht
Clifford D. May
Kenneth Weinstein
John Hannah
Joshua Muravchik
Paul Wolfowitz
William Inboden
Martin Peretz
R. James Woolsey

Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.net, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.

(1) http://www.prisonplanet.com/pnac-cabal-warns-congress-to-back-off-over-libya.html

(2) http://www.foreignpolicyi.org/files/uploads/images/6-20-11%20-%20Libya%20Open%20Letter%20to%20House%20GOP%20-%2041%20Sigs%20%28a%29.pdf

Nuclear Scientists Killed in Russia Plane Crash Helped Design Iran Facility by Richard Rowell

     The death of the scientists: Sergei Rizhov, Gennadi Benyok, Nicolai Tronov, and Russia’s top nuclear technological experts, Andrei Tropinov is a great blow to the Russian nuclear industry. The experts were tasked with completing construction of an Iranian nuclear power plant and ensuring that the facility would be able to survive an earthquake. The scientists were contracted with Beshehr, to construct a power plant after the project shifted hands away from a Germany company Seimens. The Tupelev 134 jet crashed near the northern city of Petrozavodsk killing 44 people, with 8 survivors. The five were employed at the Russian Hydropress factory, a Bushehr construction contractor and member of Russia's state nuclear corporation.The death of the scientists is a great blow to the Russian nuclear industry. [1][2]

     This report reminds me of the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash. The Tu-154 plane staffed Prime Minister Lech Kaczynski, and top cabinet legislators and other members that mysteriously crashed killing all of them. Roughly half of Poland's cabinet died in the Tu-154 crash, and many reports strongly assert that Kaczynski was shot on board before the plane permanently laid to rest everyone else.  The flight recorder would indicate this crash was NOT a coincidence 

0:18 Look him in the eyes.
0:22 Calm down!
0:29 Oh my God!
0:30 All of them!
0:31 Kill them!
0:38 (Airport siren sounds)
0:45 Surround him! Go around! He‘s running away!
0:47 Give me a gun.
0:49 Come here, bastard!
0:50 Kill him!
0:51 Do not kill us.
0:51 Do not kill us.
0:55 My God, my God, what is that?
0:55 Shoot.
0:56 (Gun reloading noise)
0:57 (Shot #1)
1:01 You’ll never get away with it!
1:07 (Shot #2)
1:09 (Laughter)
1:13 Change of plans – come back!
1:14 Everyone come back – faster!
1:14 (Shot #3)
1:17 (Shot #4)
1:20 Let’s get out of here.           

     Poland was the “only country in 2010 that the EU had refused to strengthen its currency, as its Zloty being weak was a benefit to the Polish economy in exports, employment and tax revenues. The national bank governor had said he would not take loans from the IMF.” The Polish governor had even been so bold as to offer to loan the IMF money instead! When the governor later died (i.e. or was permanently laid to rest) the IMF loans have started against his original plans. they had even been so bold as to offer to loan the IMF money! But after the governor’s untimely death the IMF loans have started against his plans.” [3]

---

[1] http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/nuclear-experts-killed-in-russia-plane-crash-helped-design-iran-facility-1.369226

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Polish_Air_Force_Tu-154_crash

[3] http://www.prisonplanet.com/regime-change-by-plane-crash.html

How Miserable? Index Says the Worst in 28 Years by Jeff Cox

 When it comes to measuring the combination of unemployment and inflation, it doesn’t get much more miserable than this. 

Getty Images

In fact, misery, as measured in the unofficial Misery Index that simply totals the unemployment and inflation rates, is at a 28-year high, reflective of how weak the economic recovery has been and how far there is to go. 

The index, first compiled during the soaring inflation days of the 1970s by economist Arthur Okun, is registering a nausea-inducing 12.7—9.1 percent for unemployment and 3.6 percent for annualized inflation—a number not seen since 1983. The index has been above 10 since November 2009 and had been under double-digits from June 1993 through May 2008. 

The good news, of course, is that the Fed-led Paul Volcker embarked on a highly successful inflation-slaying campaign that brought the level of misery down sharply through the rest of the ’80s recovery decade.

The bad news, of course, is all the bad news. 

Put another way, by Paul Dales at Capital Economics:

“The good news is that other measures suggest conditions aren't quite that bad and over the next 18 months the gloom should lift a little,” the firm’s chief US economist wrote in a Misery analysis. “The bad news is that households won't be in the mood to boost their spending significantly for several more years.” 

Dales says all the misery may not be as bad as it appears. An alternative measure, put forth in 1999 by Robert Barro, encompasses a wider swath of misery, measuring employment against the so-called “natural rate” and compares inflation against the previous 10 years. The Barro measure also looks at whether gross domestic product is below its “potential” and compares yields on the 10-year Treasury note against the yields of the previous 10 years. 

With all that rolled in, Dales says the Barro index is indicating that while things aren't expected to get dramatically better, the level of misery is probably at a peak and should roll back over the next 18 months.

• Slideshow: What Happens if Greece Defaults?

“The upshot is that Americans might not be quite as miserable as the Okun misery index appears to suggest,” Dales said. “And as inflation falls back, some of the gloom will lift.” 

Still, the level of misery, whatever the measure, is high, with many unconvinced that inflation is, as Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke suggests, transitory, or that the economy is in a mere soft patch that will fade.

Investor sentiment continues to fall. The latest Investors Intelligence survey, a weekly poll of newsletter authors, points to bulls outnumbering bears by just a 37 percent to 26 percent margin. Yes, it does indicate more people believing the market is heading higher than lower, but the bullishness is around financial crisis levels. 

The survey includes a smattering of comments from participants.

One of the more common that represents the bearish perspective looks at how much optimism there had been in the market prior to the May 2 highs. 

“Frankly, we have been stunned by the disconnect that we see between these optimistic calls over the past six to nine months and the reality of what is occurring in the global economy,” wrote Boston-based Hans P. Black in the Interinvest Review & Outlook. 

Conversely, misery is not universal, with Elliott F. Gue’s Personal Finance Newsletter making the case for the optimists that one should not “fall prey to the panic fanned by the usual fear-mongering doomsayers,” a group that presumably includes those unemployed or bewildered by inflation and, thus, in misery.