Survival and Nuclear Plants

[linebacker]

Let me see if I can answer that one for you.
There are mainly two types of reactors in the US, a BWR = Boiling Water Reactor and a PWR=Pressurized Water Reactor. They both have similar characteristics but also differ in the way they produce and send steam to the turbines that turn the generator that produces the electricity and also they differ in the way their emergency systems react to a unit scram. In the case of loss of onsite power (emergency diesel generators) and offsite power (grid),they both have rooms and rooms full of emergency backup batteries that are always tied to relays that are connected to all emergency systems to include pumps, mechanically operated valves, relay panels, etc, etc, etc in the case of an emeregency that can safely shut down and cool the reactor when activated.
They have multiple resources of water in huge storage tanks such as demin water, torus full of water, condensate water from the turbines, etc, etc. They also have an endless supply of water from freshwater wells and even river or lake water that the plant uses daily as plant service water.
I could go on and on,,,trust me, they are self sufficient in the case of a FUBAR emergency and can shut down automatically by a thorough and indepth computer program that is full of scenarios and solutions.
I hope this makes sense, if not, you will just have to trust me, LOL

 

[wsbrown]

Im sure you probaly know more about this than I do,so heres an honest question.

How would they keep the fuel rods cool if they didnt have electricity to circulate water?

Half of the emergency safety system pumps are steam driven, and one of those steam driven systems requires NO power to operate it's valves. Using this one system alone and air operated valves to vent the suppression chamber, containment integrity can be maintained indefinitely.

 

[linebacker]

Half of the emergency safety system pumps are steam driven, and one of those steam driven systems requires NO power to operate it's valves. Using this one system alone and air operated valves to vent the suppression chamber, containment integrity can be maintained indefinitely.

if anyone knows, he knows ^^

I didn't even mention HPIC or SBLC

 

[wsbrown]

if anyone knows, he knows ^^

I didn't even mention HPIC or SBLC

Sorry the no-count OPs guy crapped you up. lol

 

[linebacker]

Sorry the no-count OPs guy crapped you up. lol

lol, it wasn't so bad, I sat in the job trailer for a few days. I had to do a full body count at the first of shift to see if I could go back to work. The junior rent a tech HP actually ran yelling get out, lol I told him, it's too late now and finished flying the valve out.
This was years ago out in Washington State.

 

[cshoemaker3]

lol, it wasn't so bad, I sat in the job trailer for a few days. I had to do a full body count at the first of shift to see if I could go back to work. The junior rent a tech HP actually ran yelling get out, lol I told him, it's too late now and finished flying the valve out.
This was years ago out in Washington State.

Thats nuts. Says a lot about character that you sat there and finished your job.




For everyone:Its a lot of reading but gives a good idea of all the safety systems and redundancies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_water_reactor_safety_systems
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_nuclear_safety


A core meltdown is bad but not nearly as bad as when you combine that with Hydrogen/steam explosions (caused by the high heat of a runaway reactor) that can breach containment. Such explosions disperse radioactive stuff into the air. Three mile island - no Hydrogen explosion big enough to breach containment occurred so it only had an effect on a very localized area. Chernobyl literally blew its top off which is why it affected such a large area.

 

[Hasselhoss]

I spent many years working as a robotics engineer in nuke plants all over the world.

If you want to be worried about a nuke plant then make sure you differentiate between the two main types. There are PWR and BWR reactors. The BWR reactors are by far the nastiest creatures we have ever designed. PWR reactors are very clean and not something I would worry about to any degree.

In either case, there are automated systems that can close the control rod shields and effecvtively stop all reaction within the plant. In a worst-case scenarion the BWR reactors can be "scrammed" automatically. There are massive, Volkswagen-sized valves that will slam open and allow hundreds of thousands of gallons of cold water to flood the reactor from a donut-shaped pool called the Torus. Once open, they cannot be closed.

 

[Sandman771]

I for one would like to see new nuclear reactors going online in America. Along with more oil wells in the Gulf and let's drill in ANWR while we are at it.

 

[linebacker]

I understand your concerns but, I assure you I made to safest decision. I do expect that from people that don't have a full understanding of what I do in the nuclear industry. I did have a decision to make and I clearly made the correct one. Here are the questions that I asked myself in a matter of seconds.
Do I leave or do I stay and make this a safe area for others?
Do I stay and protect the utilities $1 million valve from any damage?
Do I stay and protect the main steam system from any Foreign Material Exclusion which could possibly cause extensive core damage?
Since I knew that I was already "crapped up" as we call it in the nuclear industry, I made the safest decision which was to stay and set the valve down in a safe place, cover the valve to help contain the contact dose, cover all openings in the main steam system to prevent any intrusion of foreign materials which could very well cause reactor core damage and to help contain the dose.

The valve that I am referring to weighed well over 20,000lbs and costs well over a million dollars. Second it was already rigged and suspended in the air. I would have had to leave a suspended load unattended which is one of the biggest NO NO's in any industry. You do NOT leave a suspended load unattended at any time for any reason. If I had left it suspended and someone had not seen it and walked under it and it had fell, it would have killed them without a doubt.

I knew what all of the risks where before I even entered the area, because of prejob briefings with Operations, System Engineer as well as Health Physics. I knew what the dose rates were in the area as well as the dose rates in the MSIV system that I was removing the valve from. I knew that the "dose" that I would take would not kill me or make my hair fall out or make me glow in the dark. I knew that it would be an internal dose of Cobalt 60 if any would be minor compared to some places that I have been in, which I am fully aware of the dangers of it. It decays rapidly even if inhaled or ingested. I was safely dressed in two sets of PC's, one set of plastic PC's over the cloth PC's, double rubber gloves, double rubber shoe covers, both taped and sealed at my wrists and ankles and was wearing a hard hat and face shield.
The dose that I took was minor compared to what was in the steam system because I was wearing extra PC's (protective clothing)
and face shield. I did feel afterwrds that I should have been wearing a fully sealed bubble suit, which was not prescribed by HP Dept. HP Dept's job is to make all employees aware of all dose rates all over the plant and prescribe the necessary dressout requirements for entering any contaminated area.

So, in conclusion, people who don't have a full understanding about the nuclear industry or understand what I do would probably think that I am nuts, LOL
There were so many different variables like, various types of radiation, the various types of dose related to radiation, whether external or internal dose, smearable dose, contact dose, etc etc,,,or the do's and don'ts of safe rigging practices, or proper FME work practices, etc, etc,
Also, I want to note that reading all about it and actually physically doing it are two entirely different things, trust me,,,LOL

Thats nuts. Says a lot about character that you sat there and finished your job.





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[jclem02]

I for one would like to see new nuclear reactors going online in America. Along with more oil wells in the Gulf and let's drill in ANWR while we are at it.

I agree with this except for the ANWR part. I'd like to see more wells in the Gulf and off the East Coast and see if they could produce enough to avoid disturbing ANWR if possible.