March 13, 2012, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission released a preliminary report on last year’s fire at the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant in Nebraska.  It shows corporate incompetence that could have led to disaster, if the plant hadn’t already been shut down.

The nuclear reactors had been shut down for maintenance, and were shut down longer than planned because of  flooding from the Missouri river.

The incompetence comes from a incorrectly installed electrical breaker panel, which began to smolder and eventually ignited.  The breaker panel was not designed for the existing switches, and was mickey moused to fit.  The result was that grease built up in the panel, overheated and caught fire.

There is more incompetence, in that the NRC learned that workers had noticed a burning smell coming from the panel at least three days before the fire broke out!

The NRC also discovered that the warning siren system for people living nearby is faulty, and there is no back up warning system in place!

This is proof that the greatest danger involving nuclear plants, are the corporations operating them!