Where Are the Nuclear Forgings? Track 29!

During the period that the United States slowed construction of nuclear energy plants, the subsidiary companies that did large forgings for such plants also languished. So American concerns needed to go overseas for replacement pieces, leading to multi-ton pieces to be shipped by boat and ever so slowly delivered via flat bed train and truck to their destinations. Here’s an Insight story about a French-made steam generator and its tortuous trip to Three Mile Island.

Wouldn’t it be nice to make these in the United States? Reviving the steel industry here, for whatever purpose, however tentatively, is something that can only be to the good.

The facility is designed to build the world's largest steam and gas turbines for power plants as well as retrofit existing facilities, according to Alstom officials.

On Wednesday, Alstom brought in about 100 customers for a sneak preview of the plant and to talk about energy, said Amy Ericson, vice president market communications for Alstom's power sector.

And where might this be? Chattanooga. Alstom is a French company – here’s its site for the new plant, though be warned it starts playing a video with music when you go to it. The plant does what you want it to do – offer a number of high-paying jobs:

At Alstom, which expects to hire 350 workers by 2013, the jobs will average $75,000 annually, according to the company.

And it answers to the issue of large forgings:

"[Customers] like the proximity of it very much," Ms. Ericson said. "All up and down the middle corridor of the country are some of the largest nuclear and steam facilities."

Mike Pare’s article also expresses the city’s enthusiastic hope that this plant turns Chattanooga into a center for this kind of operation. What can we say? We do, too.

Alstom factory a-borning.

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Pardon me, boy, is that the Chattanooga choo choo?

Track twenty-nine!

Boy, you can gimme a shine? I can afford to board a Chattanooga choo choo. I've got my fare and just a trifle to spare

-- From Mack Gordon and Harry Warren’s song Chattanooga Choo Choo.

If you think Chattanooga doesn’t take full advantage of that song, you have another think coming. This is the old train station in town, now converted to stores and a hotel all built around the choo choo theme. See here for more. Could be charming, could be overbearing.

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...

How Much Land Does Nuclear, Wind and Solar Really Need?

Not too long ago, we reviewed a report that looked at nuclear energy (and other energy sources) as biodiversity agents. This had to do, in part, with the amount of land a facility needs to function. Nuclear energy and fossil fuel plants use relatively little, wind farms and solar arrays quite a lot of land . Based on an objective and transparent analysis of our sustainable energy choices, we have come to the evidence-based conclusion that nuclear energy is a good option for biodiversity conservation (and society in general) and that other alternatives to fossil fuels should be subjected to the same cost–benefit analyses (in terms of biodiversity and climate outcomes, as well as sociopolitical imperatives) before accepting or dismissing them. Writer Barry Brook, who collected 75 scientists to endorse his paper, is interested in land use as it impacts flora and fauna. Biodiversity concerns do not get as much play as they might – and, when they do, it annoys many when land is withdraw...

NEI Nuclear Notes

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