Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

From the belly of the Nuclear Beast....


NeoConMan

Recommended Posts

As I type this with 3 layers of gloves on, I'm dressed like the Michelin Man inside the containment dome.

It ain't a cool chopper like SB flies, but it's a sight to see!

 

I'm 30 feet from a 4,000 thermal megawatt reactor, sitting at the Rad Protection desk.

 

Gotta go.

 

Be cool everybody!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I type this with 3 layers of gloves on' date=' I'm dressed like the Michelin Man inside the containment dome.

It ain't a cool chopper like SB flies, but it's a sight to see!

 

I'm 30 feet from a 4,000 thermal megawatt reactor, sitting at the Rad Protection desk.

 

Gotta go.

 

Be cool everybody![/quote']

 

So your at the "Protection" desk and your on this forum...

 

Nice to see people doing there jobs properly

 

Get a grip!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was borrowing the computer at the desk.

 

There are two terminals here for us, we can't leave containment while on duty.

I'm on standby for an ugly event, set up for evac.

Last ditch, turn five valves and run!

 

In other words, I'm supposed to be there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Axe is right.

I was doing what was called "the conical flange watch" for 4 hours at a time.

That entails standing by in case cooling water flow was lost to the reactor core, so two people are required to be inside containment with no other duties. If cooling flow is lost, the water would start to boil out of the core in 31 minutes. Once that begins, it gets ugly REALLY fast as the core blows all the water out with the steam it creates and then begins to melt.

See; China Syndrome.

 

There are 5 valves (4 on the conical flanges) that would have to be opened to dump additional water into the containment floor, it would flow to a couple of underfloor sumps to be pumped back into the core for cooling, spill out, run to the sumps and get pumped thru again, and again, and again....

 

 

 

 

 

you know neo' date=' your gonna need to back this up with some pics [/quote']

No cameras allowed without specific approval, in triplicate, from the Pope.

Then it goes to Congress for consideration, and that's if you actually work there!

 

Huge liability issues.

 

There's assorted stuff online, mostly technical, but a few pics and diagrams if you search around enough.

 

The unit is a Combustion Engineering (CE) 80+ if you care to look it up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have about a hundred or so pictures from inside Beaver Valley Nuclear. When we did the pressurizer nozzle upgrade in a flash around some where ,

Got some awesome pictures of the guys shuffling bundles...

 

Cherenkov ... pretty ....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cherenkov ... pretty ....

 

Not my reactor' date=' but here's the blue glow the pool of water displays.

Water is what shields us from the fuel, and allows us to stand at the edge and go "Oooohhhh......!"

 

 

[img']http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Advanced_Test_Reactor.jpg[/img]

 

 

Safety is the paramount concern, nobody wants a dose of gamma or neutron radiation.

The RP guys are all over the place, and everybody undergoes extensive training before they ever enter the fence.

Getting into the reactor area is another step above that.

Briefs are conducted with anybody entering, their tasks are understood, approved and then monitored.

Personal dosimetry is worn by everybody and exposure is recorded as you exit, tracked to .1 millirem.

 

10,000 of those gives you 1 Rem, few ever get exposed to that in a lifetime now.

Of course the old days were different, and the guys like Axe who traveled to different plants for maintenance jobs got a little more of it. I had no idea just how little I actually knew about nuke power until I got into it.

Very misunderstood by the world at large.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have 21 R" lifetime dose TEDE ...

Started in the biz in 79 and got out in 2006...

 

And the list of facilities is long.

 

I was at Connecticut Yankee for the decommissioning... Now that was a trip, cutting up the core barrell with an AWJ.

Abrasive Water Jet

 

If a piece of the core was to come within 6" of the surface of the water... well lets just say I would not be typing this now .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...