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Running Out of Gas
Nuclear power plants can run a very long time without needing more fuel, but not forever. That would make it a perpetual motion machine, and if you figure that one out you are now a billionaire, so congrats. Every 2 years or so, they have to shut down and replace some of the fuel so…
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Grid Nightmares
Today, the FBI Director warned Congress that Chinese hackers are preparing to wreak havoc on US critical infrastructure. Critical infrastructure is just what it sounds like. Things like water treatment plants and power stations, banks and refineries, communications and emergency services. In a nutshell, the lifeblood of modernity. Without these functions, we are back to…
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Grid Operations
First, a disclosure. I am NOT a grid expert in the same way I am a nuclear power expert. I know quite a bit about the grid and how it works, but I have never operated it nor have I been trained to do so. It’s a highly complex system and takes a lot of…
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Sitting in the Dark.
Winter Storm Finn is hammering the East Coast. We lost power at my house almost as soon as the wind kicked up. The NWS is calling for 40 mph winds with 60 mph gusts, so it’s going to be a long night. This got me thinking about how a nuclear plant handles power outages. First…
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A Day in the Life of a Nuclear Operator
I spent 2 years of my life being trained to become a Senior Reactor Operator (SRO). Hundreds of hours in the classroom, hundreds of hours in the simulator, and at the end, a 2 week long exam given by the NRC. For what? What exactly do nuclear operators do that requires all that training? As…
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Oh, no! The Reactor is (prompt) Critical!
All bad nuclear movies have that scene where someone shouts “God help us, the reactor is critical!” Every nuclear trained person’s favorite bit of pedantry is to correct people who use the term critical to describe an out of control reactor. Actually, a critical reactor is one where the neutron chain reaction is self sustaining.…
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Happy New Year! Now, about that earthquake . . .
Since late 2019, it seems like there has been a string of years where things just keep getting worse. 2024 decided to continue that trend by having a magnitude 7.6 earthquake in Japan on New Years Day. Understandably, people get nervous when big earthquakes hit Japan. The nuclear accident at Fukushima happened almost 13 years…
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How’d I get here?
There are 2 ways to become an operator at a nuclear power plant. One is to get a BS degree, preferably in engineering of some sort, and apply for an opening at a plant. Spend a few years calculating things and then make the jump into operations for the big bucks. The other, until recently…
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Spent Fuel Storage
One of the main concerns people have over nuclear power is what to do with the fuel after it has spent time in the reactor. This used fuel still emits significant heat for years afterwards, and is highly radioactive for centuries. Nuclear fuel spends about 6 years inside the reactor. Every 2 years, nuclear power…
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Technical Specifications
Nuclear power plants are required to comply with the conditions of their NRC-issued license at all times. A large part of this is contained in what are called technical specifications, also known as Tech Specs. The link to all currently approved Tech Specs is below. https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/techspecs/current-approved-sts.html Tech specs provide a box that you have to…
Sleepy Neutron's Nuclear Knowledge 