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More
Pittsburg students are staying home than usual, and more students at
school are bringing bottled water. These are mainly precautions for the
three confirmed reports of viral meningitis in two of district's
schools. The three infected students are barred from school until the
virus runs its course. And the two schools of the infected students were
not disclosed due to confidentiality laws. Janis Goedeke, a health
officer with Crawford County, said the three cases of viral meningitis
are the only confirmed cases in Crawford County at this time. "The
bacterial is much more serious (than the viral) and can be life
threatening," Goedeke said, adding "Viral meningitis is very common in
the community anyway, and particularly this time of year. This is not an
unusual circumstance." Districtwide, as a precaution to reduce
potential spreading, water fountains were turned off and a trash bag
placed over them on Thursday and Friday - the water fountain
prohibitions were lifted this week. On Saturday, Goedeke said the blood
samples of the students came back positive for viral meningitis. The
results prompted the health department and district to post on Facebook.
The district also sent out an automated voice message to parents about
the incident. All of the alerts talk about precautions the school is
taking and precautions students and parents can take. "The preventative
measures are basically the healthy habits that we normally use," said
Superintendent of Schools Destry Brown. "Encouraging handwashing, we are
going to do more disinfecting every day at the end of the day. We will
also have teachers and students using antibacterial wipes to clean desks
between classes." Brown said anyone with signs of meningitis -
headache, fever or sore neck - should stay home. Brown said "quite a few
parents" have decided to keep their students home at this time. Brown
said the absentees will not be "unexcused." Brown said there was also a
case thought to be Whooping Cough, but the results came back negative.
He said the health department is still waiting the results of others
tested for Whooping Cough.
Biohazard name:
Meningitis (viral)
Biohazard level:
3/4 Hight
Biohazard desc.:
Bacteria
and viruses that can cause severe to fatal disease in humans, but for
which vaccines or other treatments exist, such as anthrax, West Nile
virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, SARS virus, variola virus
(smallpox), tuberculosis, typhus, Rift Valley fever, Rocky Mountain
spotted fever, yellow fever, and malaria. Among parasites Plasmodium falciparum, which causes Malaria, and Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes trypanosomiasis, also come under this level.
Symptoms:
Status:
confirmed
..........
Meningitis confirmed in Pittsburg
By Michael Stavola mstavola@morningsun.net
Posted Oct. 19, 2015 at 10:08 PM
Pittsburg, Kan.
More Pittsburg students are staying home than usual, and more students at school are bringing bottled water.
These
are mainly precautions for the three confirmed reports of viral
meningitis in two of district’s schools. The three infected students are
barred from school until the virus runs its course. And the two schools
of the infected students were not disclosed due to confidentiality
laws. Janis Goedeke, a health officer with Crawford County, said the
three cases of viral meningitis are the only confirmed cases in Crawford
County at this time.
“The bacterial is much
more serious (than the viral) and can be life threatening,” Goedeke
said, adding “Viral meningitis is very common in the community anyway,
and particularly this time of year. This is not an unusual
circumstance.”
Districtwide, as a precaution to
reduce potential spreading, water fountains were turned off and a trash
bag placed over them on Thursday and Friday – the water fountain
prohibitions were lifted this week. On Saturday, Goedeke said the blood
samples of the students came back positive for viral meningitis.
Tornado damage in Mayflower, Ark. (Courtesy of James Bryant / Associated Press / April 27, 2014)
By Matt PearceThis post has been updated with the latest information.
April 27, 2014, 10:46 p.m.
The
worst tornado outbreak of the year struck several small towns across
the central U.S. on Sunday, killing at least 12 people, damaging or
destroying scores of homes and businesses, and sparking a search effort
in Arkansas that continued into the night.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe’s
office confirmed that at least 11 people were killed when twisters
struck near Little Rock. Another person was confirmed dead in Quapaw,
Okla. Nearby Baxter Springs, Kan., was heavily damaged.
Smaller
tornadoes were reported in Nebraska, Illinois, Missouri and Mississippi,
but it was in central Arkansas where the some of the most dramatic
rescue scenes were playing out. A tornado -- or a series of tornadoes --
appeared to scour a path dozens of miles long and possibly up to
three-quarters of a mile wide.
Officials said the twister crossed
Interstate 40, a crucial trucking artery out of Little Rock, while
drivers were still on the road, then thrashed the town of Mayflower
before continuing northeast to Vilonia and beyond. The National Weather Service reported that Arkansas Game and Fish Commission headquarters east of Mayflower had been destroyed.
Damage
to an electrical transformer caused one reactor to shut down
automatically at a northern Illinois nuclear power plant over the
weekend. Unit 2 at the Dresden Nuclear Station shut down Saturday
morning, and it remained offline on Sunday as crews worked to fix the
damage. Dresden spokesman Robert Osgood says the problem is on the
non-nuclear side of the plant. He says the plant responded as expected,
and there was no safety threat. He says a second reactor is operating
normally, and electrical customers will not be affected. The plant is in
Morris, about 60 miles southwest of Chicago,
The
plant shut down in October 1978 and is currently in SAFSTOR. The
Decommissioning Plan was approved in September 1993. No significant
dismantlement activities are underway. Isolation of Unit 1 and Units 2
and 3, is complete. All spent fuel from DNPS Unit 1 that was previously
stored in the Unit 1 SFP, the Unit 1 fuel transfer pool, and the Unit 2
SFP has now been transferred to the on-site Independent Spent Fuel
Storage Installation (ISFSI). Currently, 108 spent fuel assemblies and
one fuel rod basket from Unit 1 are stored in the DNPS Unit 3 SFP.
During the SAFSTOR period (through 2027), the Unit 1 facility will be
subjected to periodic inspection and monitoring. These activities will
include condition monitoring of the ISFSI, ongoing environmental
surveys, and maintenance of equipment required to support the SAFSTOR
condition of the facility. Security will be maintained as part of the
site protected area boundary for DNPS Units 1, 2, and 3 during this
period. The licensee plans that decontamination and dismantlement of
DNPS Unit 1, including removal of any remaining Unit 1 spent fuel that
is stored in the Unit 3 SFP, will take place from 2029 through 2031.
Major components, including the nuclear steam supply system and the
turbine-generator machinery, will be decontaminated as needed, and
removed at this time. Other systems and components will also be removed,
packaged and disposed of; the associated buildings will be prepared for
demolition. A four-year site restoration delay will follow the major
decontamination and dismantlement of DNPS Unit 1 to allow for the
decontamination and dismantlement of Units 2 and 3, with completion of
these activities tentatively planned for 2035. Site restoration is
planned for in 2035 and 2036, with the demolition of the remaining
structures and removal of contaminated soil. The licensee plans to
conduct a final site survey in late 2036. The licensee will monitor the
DNPS ISFSI complex with site security and periodic inspections until
final transfer of the spent fuel to the Department of Energy for
disposal.
Dresden Unit 1 produced power commercially from 1960 to
October 31,1978. The unit had a history of minor steam leaks and erosion
in steam piping in the early and mid-1960s. There were also fuel
failures during the period of September through December of 1964 and
other times which, although not leading to off-gas releases above
limits, did cause redistribution of radionuclides from the fuel to other
parts of the primary system. Several systems in the plant used
admiralty brass (Cu-Ni) heat exchange surfaces, including the Main
Condenser. Most of these were taken out of service and replaced with
stainless steel tubing. In the sixth partial refueling, the condenser
was re-tubed from admiralty brass to 304L stainless steel. The use of
Cu-Ni surfaces did lead to translocation and deposition of corrosion
products throughout the operating systems. The use of carbon steel in
the Secondary Feedwater System may have also contributed to the elevated
corrosion radionuclide levels. These foregoing events led to the need
to perform a chemical decontamination of the Primary System. The Unit
was taken off-line on October 31, 1978, to backfit it with equipment to
meet new federal regulations and to perform a chemical decontamination
of major piping systems. While it was out of service for retrofitting,
additional regulations were issued as a result of the March 1979
incident at Three Mile Island. The estimated cost to bring Dresden Unit 1
into compliance with these regulations was more than $300 million.
Commonwealth Edison concluded that the age of the unit and its
relatively small size did not warrant the added investment. In 1984,
chemical decontamination of the primary system was performed and 753
curies of Cobalt-60 and 12.4 curies of Cesium- 137 were removed. This
decontamination was completed and activities began shortly thereafter to
prepare the facility for decommissioning. In July of 1986, the NRC
revised the Dresden Unit 1 license to possess-but-not-operate status.
The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved Revision 3
to the Dresden Unit 1 Decommissioning Program Plan on September 3,
1993. In 1998, the Decommissioning Program Plan was revised to the
current Defueled Safety Analysis Report (DSAR) format.
3.0 Major Technical or Regulatory Issues
None.
4.0 Estimated Date For Closure
12/31/2036
Page Last Reviewed/Updated Thursday, February 20, 2014
The
center of this Toxic Plume is located approximately 60 miles southwest
of Chicago, Illinois. This plume is produced by 2 reactors located at
the Dresden Nuclear Power Plant site. The reactors that produce this
plume have 1,734 Mega Watts of radiation generating power. There is a
total of 1,050 tons of Highly Toxic Radioactive spent fuel stored at
this Nuclear Power Plant. The Dresden Nuclear 1 reactor has been forced
into permanent shut down, leaving the plant in a virtually unattended
state. During one winter, this unit experienced containment flooding to
the service water system, due to freeze damage. It was determined that a
similar threat to Spent Fuel Pool integrity. Tritium leaks at the other
units in this plant are treated with the same lack of concern that
Nuclear Power corporations give all leaking radiation.
Undated photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey shows a landslide
trench and ridge east of Reelfoot Lake in Obion County, Tenn., made by
the New Madrid earthquakes in the early 1800s.
LOS
ANGELES — The New Madrid fault zone in the nation's midsection is active
and could spawn future large earthquakes, scientists reported.
It's
"not dead yet," said U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Susan Hough,
who was part of the study published online Thursday by the journal
Science.
Researchers have long debated just how much of a hazard
New Madrid (MAD'-rihd) poses. The zone stretches 150 miles, crossing
parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri
and Tennessee.
In 1811 and 1812, it unleashed a trio of powerful
jolts — measuring magnitudes 7.5 to 7.7 — that rattled the central
Mississippi River valley. Chimneys fell and boats capsized. Farmland
sank and turned into swamps. The death toll is unknown, but experts
don't believe there were mass casualties because the region was
sparsely populated then.
Unlike California's San Andreas and
other faults that occur along boundaries of shifting tectonic plates,
New Madrid is less understood since it's in the middle of the
continent, far from plate boundaries.
Previous studies have
suggested that it may be shutting down, based on GPS readings that
showed little strain accumulation at the surface. Other research came to
the same conclusion by blaming ongoing quake activity on aftershocks
from the 1800s, which would essentially relieve strain on the fault.
December 27, 2013 (CHICAGO) (WLS) --
Flu viruses are spreading in Illinois and the leading strain detected in
lab tests is H1N1, the same strain that caused a pandemic in 2009.
Health officials say statewide flu activity is "regional,"
which is a step below "widespread." That means the flu has been
confirmed in less than half the regions of the state.
In
Chicago, hospitals are reporting an increase in emergency room visit
from people with flu-like symptoms. But levels are half what they were
during the same week last season.
"It's been very quiet, very
much in the background," Paul Schreckenberger, microbiologist, said of
the strain. "Then all of the sudden this year, starting last week, we've
had a big upsurge of the 2009 pandemic strain."
Security Camera Captures Possible Meteor Thursday Evening
Courtesy the City of North Liberty
Story Created:
Dec 27, 2013 at 3:25 PM CST
Story Updated:
Dec 27, 2013 at 3:36 PM CST
NORTH LIBERTY, Iowa - People across the Midwest reported seeing a
bright fireball streak across the sky Thursday evening ... and it was
caught on camera in North Liberty.
The fireball, a possible
meteor, was spotted at about 5:40 p.m. Thursday. Reports indicated that
it was seen across many Midwestern states, including Iowa, Illinois,
Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Nebraska and South Dakota.
The
center of this Toxic Plume is located approximately 60 miles southwest
of Chicago, Illinois. This plume is produced by 2 reactors located at
the Dresden Nuclear Power Plant site. The reactors that produce this
plume have 1,734 Mega Watts of radiation generating power. There is a
total of 1,050 tons of Highly Toxic Radioactive spent fuel stored at
this Nuclear Power Plant. The Dresden Nuclear 1 reactor has been forced
into permanent shut down, leaving the plant in a virtually unattended
state. During one winter, this unit experienced containment flooding to
the service water system, due to freeze damage. It was determined that a
similar threat to Spent Fuel Pool integrity. Tritium leaks at the other
units in this plant are treated with the same lack of concern that
Nuclear Power corporations give all leaking radiation.
