Tour A Nuclear Power Plant

Since 9-11, many nuclear power plants have ceased to offer public tours of their facilities. While those decisions were undeniably necessary, it's a shame, as there simply isn't a better educational tool for our industry.

Which is why everyone who cares about the industry ought to watch this video tour of the Columbia Generating Plant produced by Energy Northwest:

Thanks to the folks at Energy Northwest for producing a superior piece of video. For more on the Columbia Generating Station, click here.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Power, Electricity, Environment, Energy

Comments

Anonymous said…

That is a great video. I don't know how widely it has been distributed, but there certainly needs to be more information like this out there.

April 3, 2006 at 6:15 PM

distantbody said…

That video was going great until she mentioned "Energy Northwest has a diverse energy portfolio". I would at least hope that they don't use dreadful wind power, because it's absolutely farcical.

April 3, 2006 at 11:59 PM

Anonymous said…

how is it undeniably necessary?

Stupid overreaction. We have one year where some people die, less than die of the flu every year, and our whole life changes in an overeaction reminiscent to moral panic.

It's false security. What does this help? Tells the terrorists how to get in? If the plants have no security on the inside we're screwed anyways. A janitor or someone posing as a vendor and entering the plant shouldn't be able to enter any door he wants.

I'm sick of people overreacting and ruining america. Screw the terrorists- I aint skeered.

June 23, 2008 at 12:48 AM

Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

Below is from our rapid response team . Yesterday, regional anti-nuclear organizations asked federal nuclear energy regulators to launch an investigation into what it claims are “newly identified flaws” in Westinghouse’s advanced reactor design, the AP1000. During a teleconference releasing a report on the subject, participants urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend license reviews of proposed AP1000 reactors. In its news release, even the groups making these allegations provide conflicting information on its findings. In one instance, the groups cite “dozens of corrosion holes” at reactor vessels and in another says that eight holes have been documented. In all cases, there is another containment mechanism that would provide a barrier to radiation release. Below, we examine why these claims are unwarranted and why the AP1000 design certification process should continue as designated by the NRC. Myth: In the AP1000 reactor design, the gap between the shield bu...

What Happens During a Refueling Outage?

You may have noticed over the past few weeks that a number of nuclear plants are shut down for refueling outages or are resuming operations after just returning from one. This type of routine outage usually occurs in the spring or fall when electricity demand is low so that nuclear reactors can replace about one-third of the spent fuel rods with new fuel and conduct other routine maintenance and repairs at the plant. To get a better sense of how refueling works at a nuclear energy facility, I spoke with Marcus Nichol, NEI’s senior project manager for used fuel storage and transportation, and asked him to explain the basics. Why does a nuclear plant need to replace one-third of its fuel? Nichol: The main purpose of a refueling outage is to replace older fuel that is depleted—meaning it can no longer efficiently produce energy from nuclear fission reactions—with new fuel. This “used fuel” has typically been used in the reactor for four-and-a-half to six years before it is pe...

Nuclear Utility Moves Up in Credit Ratings, Bank is "Comfortable with Nuclear Strategy"

Some positive signs that nuclear utilities can continue to receive positive ratings even while they finance new nuclear plants for the first time in decades: Wells Fargo upgrades SCANA to Outperform from Market Perform Wells analyst says, "YTD, SCG shares have underperformed the Regulated Electrics (total return +2% vs. +9%). Shares trade at 11.3X our 10E EPS, a modest discount to the peer group median of 11.8X. We view the valuation as attractive given a comparatively constructive regulatory environment and potential for above-average long-term EPS growth prospects ... Comfortable with Nuclear Strategy. SCG plans to participate in the development of two regulated nuclear units at a cost of $6.3B, raising legitimate concerns regarding financing and construction. We have carefully considered the risks and are comfortable with SCG’s strategy based on a highly constructive political & regulatory environment, manageable financing needs stretched out over 10 years, strong partners...

NEI Nuclear Notes

Search This Blog