# Tennesse and Illinois Nuclear Reactors



## IprepUprep (Jan 2, 2015)

Just a quick note here.
I stumbled on two separate Nuclear Power Plants in the news for this week.

I for one LOVE conspiracies - But, I'm not going to start any...

So, the Seqoyah Nuke Plant has had a little problem - nothing to worry about I would suspect.
Found here:Sequoyah nuclear reactor unexpectedly shuts down | Local News | Times Free Press -- and here: TVA Sequoyah 2 goes offline | GenerationHub
They pretty much say the same thing. The second link is more text than multimedia. If you want the quick just of it.

The second reactor is in Illinois: 'Chunk of ice' shuts down Unit 1 at Byron nuclear power plant - WREX.com ? Rockford?s News Leader

And a third - (found by accident) in Michigan - however, it did not shut down, it simply had a oil leak... straight into the water/lake.

Like I said in a previous post... Its *AnyWhereUSA* when anything can happen - maybe in your own back yard.

If you'd like to see how I found both plants with problems.
I check in on this link when I'm bored.
Sometimes the whole world is lit up like crazy, other times.... mellow as can be.
I think its a very hand link to have to see "just what is going on" with our little blue planet.
So - a nice link for lurking: RSOE EDIS - Emergency and Disaster Information Service "Emergency and Disaster Information Service"
Quite simple easy to understand website.

Stay safe :armata_PDT_23:
Keep up your preps :stackgreenboxes:
Be aware :68::cower:
Learn as much as you can :loyal:
We know the masses don't learn squat - they are co-dependent on the system to think for them. :68:
:armata_PDT_12:


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## PatriotFlamethrower (Jan 10, 2015)

You're making a mountain out of a molehill.

I worked in the nuclear power plant industry for over 20 years, so I know what I am talking about.

NONE of these shutdowns were a big deal, and NONE of these shutdowns posed ANY kind of hazard to the public.

Your "conspiracy theory" falls flat.

The United States happens to have the most regulated and SAFEST nuclear power plants in the WORLD. Period.


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## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

*holy crap!!!!! That ones next to me!!!!! *


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## Illini Warrior (Jan 24, 2015)

you want some nuk plant worries .... think about the TN plants and the Madrid Fault ... that's got some merit


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## keith9365 (Apr 23, 2014)

I grew up near savannah river site. Other than unusually large genetalia I suffered no effects from radiation.


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## Tennessee (Feb 1, 2014)

PatriotFlamethrower said:


> You're making a mountain out of a molehill.
> 
> I worked in the nuclear power plant industry for over 20 years, so I know what I am talking about.
> 
> ...


You must not work in operations; because anytime the reactor trips it is a big deal and lots of work to get it back on line.


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## IprepUprep (Jan 2, 2015)

IprepUprep said:


> I for one LOVE conspiracies - But, I'm not going to start any...
> 
> Like I said in a previous post... Its *AnyWhereUSA* when anything can happen - maybe in your own back yard.


So, I'm Not starting any c-theories... I said I LOVE them is all.
I just want all of us to be aware of what is going on. 
Simply put.
I'm not out to scare anyone.
If you aren't prepped - you might be nervous.
If we are prepped - we just hold on to our hats and go with it. What ever IT is.


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## PatriotFlamethrower (Jan 10, 2015)

Tennessee said:


> You must not work in operations; because anytime the reactor trips it is a big deal and lots of work to get it back on line.


Yeah, I was a janitor. LMAO!

OF COURSE it's a "big deal" when a reactor trips off-line....to the utility company. However, it's not a big deal to the general public, from a safety standpoint.


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## alterego (Jan 27, 2013)

How old are U.S. nuclear power plants and when was the last one built?

The average age of U.S. commercial reactors is about 34 years. The oldest operating reactors are Oyster Creek in New Jersey, and Nine Mile Point 1 in New York. Both entered commercial service on December 1, 1969. The last newly built reactor to enter service was Watts Bar 1 in Tennessee, in 1996. In 2007, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) voted to complete construction of Watts Bar 2. As of February 2015, the TVA estimates that commercial operation of Watts Bar 2 could begin between September 2015 and June 2016.

Mechanical equipment wears out and breaks down over time. We are doing nothing to secure our power grid. The most dangerous threat is the future lack of power to full fill the demand.


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## PatriotFlamethrower (Jan 10, 2015)

Mechanical equipment wears out, or becomes inefficient, and the equipment is replaced with new state-of-the-art equipment.

Nuclear power plants in the United States may SEEM old, compared to other things, but all nuclear power plants in the USA have the latest and greatest technology, and will last for 50 to 60 years, or longer.


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## AquaHull (Jun 10, 2012)

Palisades in South Haven closes from time to time to stop leaks.


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

No offense but I am old enough to remember 3 mile island fairly well. Oh and the disaster on the shores of Japan, that is a bit of a problem. Then there is Chernobyl. I have mixed feelings about nuclear because I can not count on Uncle Sam to shoot straight with me. While it is necessary to balance power production and I am not anti nuclear, I have some strong reservations about it.


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## PatriotFlamethrower (Jan 10, 2015)

Camel923 said:


> No offense but I am old enough to remember 3 mile island fairly well. Oh and the disaster on the shores of Japan, that is a bit of a problem. Then there is Chernobyl. I have mixed feelings about nuclear because I can not count on Uncle Sam to shoot straight with me. While it is necessary to balance power production and I am not anti nuclear, I have some strong reservations about it.


TMI is ancient history. Lessons were learned. The accident was nowhere near as bad as the media and anti-nuke pukes made it out to be.

Chernobyl was in the former USSR. Their nuclear power plants are a JOKE. ALL of their nuclear power plants are accidents waiting to happen.

The Japanese nuclear plants that got hit by the tsunami should never have been built at that sea level, especially with Japan's history of earthquakes and tsunamis, and they were extremely old G.E. Mark I reactors. The whole Japanese nuclear disaster was a fustercluck that would never happen in the USA.

I'm 58 years old, and I worked at commercial nuclear power plants all over the USA. Worrying about U.S. nuclear plants being "unsafe" should be WAY DOWN on anybody's list of things to worry about.


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## sparkyprep (Jul 5, 2013)

I currently work in nuclear power. What PatriotFlameThrower says is true. Is any system foolproof? No, but believe us when we tell you that millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of man hours are spent at each site to upgrade and maintain these systems every year, by the best in the business.

BTW, TMI was a result of human error. The system was sound, but it was over-ridden by an idiot who thought he knew better than the system.


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## PatriotFlamethrower (Jan 10, 2015)

sparkyprep said:


> I currently work in nuclear power. What PatriotFlameThrower says is true. Is any system foolproof? No, but believe us when we tell you that millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of man hours are spent at each site to upgrade and maintain these systems every year, by the best in the business.
> 
> BTW, TMI was a result of human error. The system was sound, but it was over-ridden by an idiot who thought he knew better than the system.


Wow, a nuclear power plant brother! Great to get your opinion. As you know, unless you have worked in a nuke power plant, you really can't understand how good our USA plants really are. I never worked at a nuke plant in the south, but I know that Florida has Crystal River and St. Lucie, and maybe one other facility? I forget.

At TMI, if memory serves me correctly, the problem started with a pressurizer relief valve that stuck in the open position, and the fustercluck went on from there.


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## BagLady (Feb 3, 2014)

Thanks to the experts here, I feel better. I'm on the TVA line.


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## sparkyprep (Jul 5, 2013)

PatriotFlamethrower said:


> Wow, a nuclear power plant brother! Great to get your opinion. As you know, unless you have worked in a nuke power plant, you really can't understand how good our USA plants really are. I never worked at a nuke plant in the south, but I know that Florida has Crystal River and St. Lucie, and maybe one other facility? I forget.
> 
> At TMI, if memory serves me correctly, the problem started with a pressurizer relief valve that stuck in the open position, and the fustercluck went on from there.


Crystal River, St Lucie, and Turkey Point.


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## IprepUprep (Jan 2, 2015)

I remember TMI as well. How could anyone over the age of 50 forget it?

Thanks for the reassurance of the plants.


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## Tennessee (Feb 1, 2014)

PatriotFlamethrower said:


> Yeah, I was a janitor. LMAO!
> 
> OF COURSE it's a "big deal" when a reactor trips off-line....to the utility company. However, it's not a big deal to the general public, from a safety standpoint.


Anytime a reactor trips it's a big deal to the utility and the public. The reactor trips because there is a problem and if that problem isn't fixed it can and will cause damage to the equipment or the environment. There are a lots of equipment safe guards the will cause that equipment to be shut down but not all will cause a reactor trip. The reactor trips because if you don't address the problem it can prevent you from safely shutting down the reactor. So yes I call that a big deal.

Unless you have a degree in Nuclear Engineering or years of operating a nuclear power plant (BTW I do). You don't know much more than the Janitor. Because most people that work in nuclear plants only know their area of expertise and only the few have the big picture and understand how all the components in the plant work together. It's like saying I worked in a hospital for 20 years so now I can diagnose your illness.

But I do agree just because the reactor trips you don't have to run to the hills.


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## PatriotFlamethrower (Jan 10, 2015)

Tennessee said:


> Anytime a reactor trips it's a big deal to the utility and the public. The reactor trips because there is a problem and if that problem isn't fixed it can and will cause damage to the equipment or the environment. There are a lots of equipment safe guards the will cause that equipment to be shut down but not all will cause a reactor trip. The reactor trips because if you don't address the problem it can prevent you from safely shutting down the reactor. So yes I call that a big deal.
> 
> Unless you have a degree in Nuclear Engineering or years of operating a nuclear power plant (BTW I do). You don't know much more than the Janitor. Because most people that work in nuclear plants only know their area of expertise and only the few have the big picture and understand how all the components in the plant work together. It's like saying I worked in a hospital for 20 years so now I can diagnose your illness.
> 
> But I do agree just because the reactor trips you don't have to run to the hills.


BINGO! Nuclear Engineering! Tell us what he's won, Don Pardo!

That's just ONE of the hats I wore. Health Physics. Radiochemistry. Supervisory capacities in all of those areas, also.

BWRs. PWRs. Small, older nuke plants. Large, newer nuke plants.

There are MANY relatively "minor" incidents that occur that will trip a power plant off-line. Too numerous to list here. There are redundancies for redundancies for more redundancies, to protect plant personnel and the general public. No need to frighten people in this forum.

I would be infinitely more concerned about the future of the United States Of America, than I would about a nuclear power plant tripping off-line.

And as far as terrorists doing damage to a nuclear power plant in the USA, GOOD LUCK Ahmed! By the time you even LOCATED something that you could blow up or otherwise damage that could cause a major malfunction, you would be cuffed and stomped on by a whole bunch of pissed off people.


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## PatriotFlamethrower (Jan 10, 2015)

sparkyprep said:


> Crystal River, St Lucie, and Turkey Point.


That's the one I forgot............Turkey Point. I had a good friend that worked there. Thanks.


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## Tennessee (Feb 1, 2014)

PatriotFlamethrower said:


> BINGO! Nuclear Engineering! Tell us what he's won, Don Pardo!
> 
> That's just ONE of the hats I wore. Health Physics. Radiochemistry. Supervisory capacities in all of those areas, also.
> 
> ...


Sorry PFT I never met anyone that worked in HP or RC that knew how to operate a Nuclear Plant. The 13 Nuclear plants that I worked, I worked with a lot of HP/RC techs , maybe our paths have crossed.


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## PatriotFlamethrower (Jan 10, 2015)

Tennessee said:


> Sorry PFT I never met anyone that worked in HP or RC that knew how to operate a Nuclear Plant. The 13 Nuclear plants that I worked, I worked with a lot of HP/RC techs , maybe our paths have crossed.


I'm sure you are also aware of the cross-training that happens at nuke plants.

And the layers and layers of levels of expertise..........from the meter swinger to the shift supervisor to the radwaste gamma gobbler to the senior chemist, etc.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

I'm curious, was the last Nuclear Power Plant built in US by the TVA? Is there another nuclear power plant scheduled to be built? With all of the coal plants that have been shuttered, in my opinion, we need more power plants and nuclear is the way to go IMO. ??


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## sparkyprep (Jul 5, 2013)

There has not been a new nuke brought online since TMI, I think. It scared the hell out of the public. I can't remember the newest one...


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## just mike (Jun 25, 2014)

While I like to use the power supplied by the nuclear industry I have one issue that no one has ever explained to my satisfaction.

Just what the F*** are we supposed to do with all of the nuclear waste generated at these plants? I never really thought much about it until I was working in Oak Ridge, Tn and happened to take a shortcut on one of the back roads around y12. There was an area of several acres (200?) that was totally covered with 55 gallon drums stacked on pallets , 4 to a pallet and the pallets were stacked 4 high. The drums were of several different colors, red, yellow, black and all were marked as radioactive with other markers of various danger on them. Thousands and thousands of these drums, and the only thing protecting them was a 10ft high chain link fence with barbed wire at the top. 

What are we supposed to do with all of this stuff? Where can we safely put it for the thousands of years it will take it to break down? Don't tell me that we have a repository because it is currently closed with plutonium contamination-some idiot mixed their waste with the wrong kind of kitty litter to solidify it and it ruptured the cask and it will take 2billion dollars and several years to clean it up. The kitty litter used had metal ore in with the clay and it reacted with the waste, kind of like Menthos in a Coke. There are too many variables and not enough well trained people to handle this stuff, low bidder and all that. I for one would rather breath straight out of the funnel of a coal fired power plant than have even one more plant built in the United States or anywhere else for that matter.


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## PatriotFlamethrower (Jan 10, 2015)

sparkyprep said:


> There has not been a new nuke brought online since TMI, I think. It scared the hell out of the public. I can't remember the newest one...


There have been NUMEROUS nuke plants brought on-line since TMI. There have not been any NEW nuke plants that have broken ground since TMI (at least to the best of my knowledge). I worked at a few nuke plants that came on-line for the first time, and it was well after TMI.

As for the question about radioactive waste, the waste you see in the drums is low level radioactive waste. Spent fuel rods are being stored on-site at all nuke power plants. The Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada is a political football that is purposely not being completed and opened because of the anti-nuke politicians. But as with all politicians, ignorance is bliss.


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## just mike (Jun 25, 2014)

Low level Nuclear waste is still poison with a longer half life than you or I will ever live to see. 
 The Southern Company has broken ground in Georgia for a new plant. 

TVA plants brought on line after TMI , Watts Bar ( 1996) And Sequoyah (1981). Watts Bar took 24 years to complete, the ground breaking was in 1972 the same year my wife graduated from high school. She is retired from TVA and was a civil inspector at Watts Bar and later a rad tech, several of the contractors who helped build Watts bar are serving sentences in prison for falsifying test results, x-rays of welds , using improper and untested wiring etc etc. According to my wife everything that was done by Brown and Root (now Kellog Brown and Root) had to be done at least twice and a lot of work was actually screwed up by the workers simply to prolong the job.


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## PrepperLite (May 8, 2013)

I'm not really concerned that we will have problems with nuclear plants now..... It's EOTWAWKI that we will have a problem, when there is no one there to run them... melt downs and lots of radiation to follow.... you can't just turn off a nuclear power plant forever with the flick of a switch...










If the above image is correct.... the Eastern US is doomed... I haven't even cross referenced air current patterns....


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## Tennessee (Feb 1, 2014)

PatriotFlamethrower said:


> I'm sure you are also aware of the cross-training that happens at nuke plants.
> 
> And the layers and layers of levels of expertise..........from the meter swinger to the shift supervisor to the radwaste gamma gobbler to the senior chemist, etc.


Yes, they give you just enough exposure (pun) to the other disciplines be dangerous. It takes years of specialize training to know enough to operator a nuclear plant or get your Reactor Operator License. I spent week's just learning one system; do you know how many systems a nuclear power plant has (rhetorical)? You have to know the purpose of each system and in each system the purpose of each valve, pump, and heat exchanger. Then you have to know each electrical system from the switch yard to the diesel generator. Also you have to know where all the major components are located in the plant. So when you flip a switch in the control room you better know what that switch does and how it effects the plant operation. Not to mention reactor theory and being crossed trained on all the other disciplines.

So yes it pisses me off when someone takes a cross training class and think they know how to operate a nuclear plant.


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## PatriotFlamethrower (Jan 10, 2015)

Tennessee said:


> Yes, they give you just enough exposure (pun) to the other disciplines be dangerous. It takes years of specialize training to know enough to operator a nuclear plant or get your Reactor Operator License. I spent week's just learning one system; do you know how many systems a nuclear power plant has (rhetorical)? You have to know the purpose of each system and in each system the purpose of each valve, pump, and heat exchanger. Then you have to know each electrical system from the switch yard to the diesel generator. Also you have to know where all the major components are located in the plant. So when you flip a switch in the control room you better know what that switch does and how it effects the plant operation. Not to mention reactor theory and being crossed trained on all the other disciplines.
> 
> So yes it pisses me off when someone takes a cross training class and think they know how to operate a nuclear plant.


You are preaching to the choir, in my case. You seem angry. Everything OK?


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## Urinal Cake (Oct 19, 2013)

keith9365 said:


> I grew up near savannah river site. Other than unusually large genetalia I suffered no effects from radiation.


Medical facts prove just the opposite... Thumb Dickt syndrome


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## Tennessee (Feb 1, 2014)

PatriotFlamethrower said:


> You are preaching to the choir, in my case. You seem angry. Everything OK?


I'm fine, thanks for asking.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Washington state is working toward the installation of SMNR (Small Modular Nuclear Reactors). They are less expensive than the "one off" reactors of years ago and because they are all built from the same sub assemblies if you can operate one you can operate any of them.
I'm all for safe nuclear energy but there is little safety built in to any nuclear reactor. They rely on "external power" to run pumps and controls when they should run power from the reactor to maintain control of the facility. It would seem like a 'no brainer' that if you need to run cooling pumps to keep the facility safe those pumps should be powered by the reactor. The storage facility for used rods is a joke. Put them in a big swimming pool and circulate cool water around them so they don't burst into flame - if the grid goes down they heat up because they use 'external power' to run the pumps. STUPID!

The real waste is that the used fuel can be recycled and the plutonium extracted and used to fuel the reactor again - but instead they bury good fuel that takes millions of years before it is "safe" when if they extracted the usable fuel from those rods the waste would be short term waste. What a joke - that it like filling your truck with fuel and making one trip and then draining the fuel and refilling it for the next trip. Waste!


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## PatriotFlamethrower (Jan 10, 2015)

PaulS said:


> Washington state is working toward the installation of SMNR (Small Modular Nuclear Reactors). They are less expensive than the "one off" reactors of years ago and because they are all built from the same sub assemblies if you can operate one you can operate any of them.
> I'm all for safe nuclear energy but there is little safety built in to any nuclear reactor. They rely on "external power" to run pumps and controls when they should run power from the reactor to maintain control of the facility. It would seem like a 'no brainer' that if you need to run cooling pumps to keep the facility safe those pumps should be powered by the reactor. The storage facility for used rods is a joke. Put them in a big swimming pool and circulate cool water around them so they don't burst into flame - if the grid goes down they heat up because they use 'external power' to run the pumps. STUPID!
> 
> The real waste is that the used fuel can be recycled and the plutonium extracted and used to fuel the reactor again - but instead they bury good fuel that takes millions of years before it is "safe" when if they extracted the usable fuel from those rods the waste would be short term waste. What a joke - that it like filling your truck with fuel and making one trip and then draining the fuel and refilling it for the next trip. Waste!


Westinghouse designed the "modular" nuke power plants you are speaking of MANY years ago. Why they are not dotting the landscape of this country is due to the anti-nuke people and the people who spread falsehoods, like YOU.

Every nuclear power generating facility in the USA comes equipped with Standby Emergency Diesel Generators, in case there is a loss of off-site power. Each of these EDGs are roughly the size of a 40 ft. shipping container.

As for storage and recycling of spent fuel rods, ALL spent fuel rods are stored ON SITE at all U.S. nuclear power plants. The vast majority are stored in a SPENT FUEL POOL, which is normally located in the reactor building and is constantly monitored.

The fuel rods in U.S. nuclear power plants are comprised of U-235 (Uranium 235).

Class is dismissed. :cocksure:


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## IprepUprep (Jan 2, 2015)

Stirring up the Nuclear post - not so related, but, nuclear at best.
I guess we (USA) are spending millions - say... 700 of them? to fire up the ole Cheyenne bunker.
Looks like we (USA) are going to use it "Just in case" an EMP strike happens or any other nukes...
I'm not saying that this is WWIII ... and I'm not saying there are 'eh hem' terrorists out there anywhere in the world...
Im just simply saying - the government is once again - Prepping... AND - the masses think WE ARE CRAZY FOR PREPPING???
haha... My saying this weekend is simply "Wake Up" <--- I know - we here, on this site are awake, maybe a little groggy in some aspects... but, at least we have irons in the fires.... haha.... 
Keep On Preppin'
Something is going to happen...
EMP?
NWO?
Divide and Conqure?
Civil War?
Revolution?

Keep your car legal, carry your drivers license, and your permit for your gun - and all your lamps working. It could save your back.


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