I never worked in a nuclear power plant. But during my last years in college I did have a "brush" with nuclear power. This is my story. I am not knowledgeable of nuclear power plants, but I do have a general understanding of them.
I do recall a 1973(?) highschool general assembly where someone who was supposedly knowledgeable of nuclear power mentioned something that disturbed me: how do you shut down and decommission a nuclear power plant? He put this doubt in our young teenage minds that it could be devastating and impossible.
But since then, 38 NPP (nuclear power plants) have been shut down and not a peep about any issues or anything.
In 1978 in college, I was taking the required thermodynamics class which was being taught by a mechanical engineer from the power industry. Near the end of the semester he told the class that if anyone wanted a tour of the new nuclear power plant that was maybe 80% complete he'd be happy to take us (I'm not sure which one). As far as I know, I was the only student who accepted his invitation.
As we walked through the plant he would point to things of interest. He contrasted the reactor structure and how heavy the structure was compared to outside the reactor area. Several times he complained of interference from the Energy Department as they kept changing the rules that required them to redo a lot of construction and the delays and escalating costs it caused. This was all during rising inflation which was pretty bad.
In 1979, I was in my next-to-last year in college for my BS degree in Chemical Engineering. I had just seen the movie China Syndrome. I was concerned by this movie and called one of my professors. Several of the professors had spent time in the nuclear industry at this point so I knew I would get a knowledgeable answer. This particular professor said "I personally wouldn't lose any sleep over it".
Shortly thereafter, the 3-mile Island incident occcured. Looking back no doubt it was poorly designed and poorly instrumented from the getgo. Todays chemical and nuclear/non -nuclear power plants go through a HAZOP (Hazardous Operations) analysis. These are EXTREMELY detailed pipe-by-pipe analyses to make sure all consequences are covered and mitigated, if it's required by the analysis.
In 1980, in my last semester in college, I was interviewing for a job in the chemical industry - on campus. A rep from a power company (I think) was there. He looked at me and said "the nuclear industry is dead. We won't be building anymore in the USA. My advice to you is to look elsewhere for employment." I was shocked. Why the hell was he even here??
One of the most fascinating interviews I had was at the Savannah River Plant nuclear facillity. They actually had several nuclear power plants there for various purposes. I got to enter the control room of one of the ones still running. Even though I wasn't totally familiar with computer instrument control systems, it was clear what they had been using had remained unchanged for probably 25 years. I commented on this and was told they were implementing a complete computer/instrument control system.
The control room had the lights dimmed so, it was pretty dark and completely silent. There was a large window that let you see the top of the reactor that was flush with the floor. All you could really see were some pipes going into the top and coming out of the reactor - and really not much of the reator was visible. We were just feet away from this.
And then I spoke. "Hey you guys, ever see the original King Kong movie? There's the scene of the captured King Kong chained up on a stage. Reporters running up and carelessly flashing cameras at him just feet away - agitating him to react violently. That's what this feels like." A week later I got - not one - but was offered two positions at that plant.
This is what it felt like to be so close to an operating nuclear reactor core. Click on the photo below.
No comments:
Post a Comment