Humboldt Bay Nuclear Power Plant: 50 Years
Wondering about people’s memories of our local Nuclear plant–Did anyone work here? March in protests?
Below is a clipping from 50 years ago yesterday when the plant was only a twinkle in someone’s eye.
PG&EHead
Reveals Huge
Project Cost
The atomic
power .-plant which Pacific
Gas & Electric Company plans
To :build near Eureka will cost
28 million dollars to build and
operate for four years, according
to PG&E President Norman
R.Sutherland..
He said the 60,000 kilowatt
plant,; whicb.will produce eco
rnornical nuclear electricity, will
be built by BechteI,Corp.
for 20 million dollars. This
compares with 11 million dollars
for a conventional steam
plant.
Uranium to run the plant for
3 1/2 to 4 ½ years will be rented
from the government for five
million dollars, Sutherland told
a press .conference Thursday,
it will cost another three million
dollars to fabricate the
uranium into pellets for the
core of the boiling-water
type reactor furnace.-
Cheaper Than Oil
He said the eight million dollar
cost for fuel is about-half
that of oil used in steam plants,
therefore, costs of building and
operating the nuclear plant
would begin to balance out with
the costs of conventional plants
with the second core or batch
of uranium fuel.
Sutherland said Eureka was
picked for the site of the new
plant because it has moderately
high fuel costs.
“Oil; for steam ‘plants must
be.barged in and it is remote
from our general transmission
system,” he said. “Two 100,000
volt lines’ are brought ‘in 110
miles over the Trinity Mountains
f r o m Lockwood, and
standby facilities must be maintained.”
Negotiating for Land
Sutherland said PG&E is negotiating.
to buy land on the
coast near San Francisco for
future construction of a nu
clear plant. He said studies are
continuing, although so far surveys
have indicated that.such a plant would
be competitive with steam and hydro
electric plants.
Asked if he believed the’ Eu
reka plant indicated the com
ing obsolescence of steam am
hydroelectric plants, Sutherland
replied: “Emphatically no.”
“It may do so. In the Eureka
area,” he:said, “but not in our
general system. In fact, we now
have five hydroelectric and
three steam-plants under construction.”
Eureka Humboldt Standard
2 21 1958 p9
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Did they ever account for the missing fuel rods in the pool? The story seemed to fade away.
Did they ever account for the missing fuel rods in the pool? The story seemed to fade away.
They just walked away and left the fuel rods there. That’s my understanding though I could be wrong. They call it “storage in place” or something like that. PG&E should be held responsible for nuclear waste just like Union Pacific should be forced to clean up the Balloon Track.
Have a peaceful day,
Bill
They just walked away and left the fuel rods there. That’s my understanding though I could be wrong. They call it “storage in place” or something like that. PG&E should be held responsible for nuclear waste just like Union Pacific should be forced to clean up the Balloon Track.
Have a peaceful day,
Bill
Missing fuel rods…hmmmm…this still doesn’t seem like the best form of alternative energy, despite what the nuclear industry says in their commercials.
Missing fuel rods…hmmmm…this still doesn’t seem like the best form of alternative energy, despite what the nuclear industry says in their commercials.
I remember the plant being built. We had a family friend that worked on the containment vessel.
I also remember that back in the fifties that they told us that we had such a bright future ahead. By the beginning of the seventies that energy would be unlimited and free. The only cost would be for the distribution facilities. Nuclear energy was thought of as the solution to the grinding poverty in the world, and we could all spend our leisure time for the betterment of our fellow man. The worlds problems were over.
I guess they didn’t know about politics back then.
I remember the plant being built. We had a family friend that worked on the containment vessel.
I also remember that back in the fifties that they told us that we had such a bright future ahead. By the beginning of the seventies that energy would be unlimited and free. The only cost would be for the distribution facilities. Nuclear energy was thought of as the solution to the grinding poverty in the world, and we could all spend our leisure time for the betterment of our fellow man. The worlds problems were over.
I guess they didn’t know about politics back then.
Ernie: You’re right, they didn’t know about the politics back then, but they also didn’t know about the huge waste disposal problems we would have. Just where are we supposed to put this deadly, toxic stuff that doesn’t go away for 10,000 years (or is it 100,000?…I can’t recall)? Yuca Mountain in Nevada? Sounded like a good idea at first, but the people in Nevada don’t think so and I can hardly blame them.
its called vitrification… 100% safe. The french have been using this method of containment for decades now. 100% leak proof. But here in the US where corporate interests outweigh public safety – we’re not even considering it…
I’m in College, writing an Essay Paper for my Earth Science Class…would love to know about the ‘missing’ rods, if you would fill me in, that’d be great!
~Thanks
Sunny J. Wiseheart
Are you aware that in 1959-1960 your dad worked at the PGE Plant which was connected to the Nuclear plant. He said the Nuclear Plant wasn’t opened yet but he was hired to replace someone who was moving over to the new plant.
Are you aware that in 1959-1960 your dad worked at the PGE Plant which was connected to the Nuclear plant. He said the Nuclear Plant wasn’t opened yet but he was hired to replace someone who was moving over to the new plant.
I’m not smart enough to argue, pro or con, on Nuclear energy, but I now that there are proponents and opponents that can argue and make strong points for both sides. The Radioactive-byproducts decay on a “half-life”, where they slowly turn to lead. (I think)
The destruction to the air we breath, and loss of life in mining accidents in the use of oil and coal is a compelling reason to consider nukes. There is not sufficient funding to study what to do with nuclear byproducts and to develop a plan to deal with them. The Yucca Mountain site was to be an interim storage facility to store Nuke material until it could be dealt with on a permanent basis.
If they are able to develop nuclear fusion, this “radioactive byproduct” would become fuel to power that process. We might wish we had a nuke stockpile laying around someday.
Again, I know that I don’t know anything about Nuclear power, but I know that if everyone thinks real hard about why we aren’t using it, you will find someone with money fighting that concept. Someone, or some group of people don’t want us to consider nuke power. Could it be that they are selling another product?
Possibly the “environmentalists” are sowing the seeds of their own destruction by fighting nuclear power.
Most of the comments have considerable merit. I have worked with Nuclear Power for 29 years, and have helped with 6 different projects at Humboldt Bay. It is true that the long term storage of the spent fuel bundles, is a problem, both with the engineering, and the public concerns. The government proposed location at Yucca mountain, was intended to be a final solution for the long term storage issues, but true to most government solutions to any problem, issues developed, and the project died in red tape, after spending enough money to build a tunnel under the Atlantic Ocean, to Europe. Great idea, poor execution.
Shipping the spent fuel from Humboldt, presents multiple problems of safety, and no viable soulution could be agreed upon. Long term storage on site became the only solution, within economic reason. Easier to build a 4 lane road to Hawaii, and cheaper.
The site is being returned to “as found” with public safety, and economic feasability as the driving motivators. After living in Humboldt for 30 years, and still having family in the area, I am definitly concerned, and hopefully informed, that all is well in “The County”
russ
Russ, Thank you for responding. I love having people with local experience and information add to everyone’s knowledge.
I’m not smart enough to argue, pro or con, on Nuclear energy, but I now that there are proponents and opponents that can argue and make strong points for both sides. The Radioactive-byproducts decay on a “half-life”, where they slowly turn to lead. (I think)
The destruction to the air we breath, and loss of life in mining accidents in the use of oil and coal is a compelling reason to consider nukes. There is not sufficient funding to study what to do with nuclear byproducts and to develop a plan to deal with them. The Yucca Mountain site was to be an interim storage facility to store Nuke material until it could be dealt with on a permanent basis.
If they are able to develop nuclear fusion, this “radioactive byproduct” would become fuel to power that process. We might wish we had a nuke stockpile laying around someday.
Again, I know that I don’t know anything about Nuclear power, but I know that if everyone thinks real hard about why we aren’t using it, you will find someone with money fighting that concept. Someone, or some group of people don’t want us to consider nuke power. Could it be that they are selling another product?
Possibly the “environmentalists” are sowing the seeds of their own destruction by fighting nuclear power.
Most of the comments have considerable merit. I have worked with Nuclear Power for 29 years, and have helped with 6 different projects at Humboldt Bay. It is true that the long term storage of the spent fuel bundles, is a problem, both with the engineering, and the public concerns. The government proposed location at Yucca mountain, was intended to be a final solution for the long term storage issues, but true to most government solutions to any problem, issues developed, and the project died in red tape, after spending enough money to build a tunnel under the Atlantic Ocean, to Europe. Great idea, poor execution.
Shipping the spent fuel from Humboldt, presents multiple problems of safety, and no viable soulution could be agreed upon. Long term storage on site became the only solution, within economic reason. Easier to build a 4 lane road to Hawaii, and cheaper.
The site is being returned to “as found” with public safety, and economic feasability as the driving motivators. After living in Humboldt for 30 years, and still having family in the area, I am definitly concerned, and hopefully informed, that all is well in “The County”
russ
Russ, Thank you for responding. I love having people with local experience and information add to everyone’s knowledge.
I’m no genius on this subject either, but it interests me. No doubt money is behind a lot of options (only perhaps not enough behind the “greener” technologies). Frankly, I trust the “money interests” behind wind or solar power more than I trust the money interests behind nuclear, coal, or oil (Chevron, Bechtel, etc.).
As I recall from a 60 Minutes piece I saw on Yuca (Yucca?) Mtn. years ago, they were planning on burying the waste in tunnels burrowed into salt (?) deposits where they hoped to be able to leave it for the long-term…so long, in fact that they were trying to figure out ways to leave warning signs for future civilizations of the hazards buried below, including pyramids, that would last for thousands of years. One of the concerns about the Yucca site that seems to have “stuck” is that it is not a geologically stable as originally thought — there’s some shifting that has gone on and there is a risk that the nuclear waste might get into the water table that feeds a number of large metro areas in the Southwest. This would be a cataclysmic disaster.
I agree that fusion may be the magic bullet that saves us from drowning in our own nuclear waste, but that remains a technological ideal — something that is speculative but not currently possible.
Finally, how do we get the waste to Nevada from all over the country safely? Trains and trucks crash and spill all the time. It’s inevitable that we’d have some terrible events in transport.
All that said, we may well be faced with choosing the lesser of two evils, accepting the horrible risks that come with nuclear power as a way to reduce carbon emissions. A devil’s bargain to be sure…
I’m no genius on this subject either, but it interests me. No doubt money is behind a lot of options (only perhaps not enough behind the “greener” technologies). Frankly, I trust the “money interests” behind wind or solar power more than I trust the money interests behind nuclear, coal, or oil (Chevron, Bechtel, etc.).
As I recall from a 60 Minutes piece I saw on Yuca (Yucca?) Mtn. years ago, they were planning on burying the waste in tunnels burrowed into salt (?) deposits where they hoped to be able to leave it for the long-term…so long, in fact that they were trying to figure out ways to leave warning signs for future civilizations of the hazards buried below, including pyramids, that would last for thousands of years. One of the concerns about the Yucca site that seems to have “stuck” is that it is not a geologically stable as originally thought — there’s some shifting that has gone on and there is a risk that the nuclear waste might get into the water table that feeds a number of large metro areas in the Southwest. This would be a cataclysmic disaster.
I agree that fusion may be the magic bullet that saves us from drowning in our own nuclear waste, but that remains a technological ideal — something that is speculative but not currently possible.
Finally, how do we get the waste to Nevada from all over the country safely? Trains and trucks crash and spill all the time. It’s inevitable that we’d have some terrible events in transport.
All that said, we may well be faced with choosing the lesser of two evils, accepting the horrible risks that come with nuclear power as a way to reduce carbon emissions. A devil’s bargain to be sure…
I just read an interview with a guy named Paul Stamets, author of Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World. The interview contains all kinds of fascinating tidbits about the abilities of mycelia to break down petroleum products, plastics, dioxins, and other environmentally nasty stuff.
Stametz says “Gomphidius glutinosus, a slimy mushroom that grows in conifer forests all over the world, is also a hyper-accumulator of the radioactive isotope cesium-137. In 1986 a reactor melted down at Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine and spewed cesium-137 into the atmosphere. The Ukrainians later discovered that this one type of mushroom contained concentrations of cesium-137 more than ten thousand times greater than the background level of contamination. The surrounding ecosystem had lost much of its radioactivity because the isotope was concentrated in this one fungus, which had become highly radioactive.”
He doesn’t say, in this article anyway, whether there’s any evidence of mycelia being capable of actually “digesting” or otherwise reducing the half-life of the radioactivity, but still, pretty neat, huh? I’m definitely gonna read his book!
I just read an interview with a guy named Paul Stamets, author of Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World. The interview contains all kinds of fascinating tidbits about the abilities of mycelia to break down petroleum products, plastics, dioxins, and other environmentally nasty stuff.
Stametz says “Gomphidius glutinosus, a slimy mushroom that grows in conifer forests all over the world, is also a hyper-accumulator of the radioactive isotope cesium-137. In 1986 a reactor melted down at Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine and spewed cesium-137 into the atmosphere. The Ukrainians later discovered that this one type of mushroom contained concentrations of cesium-137 more than ten thousand times greater than the background level of contamination. The surrounding ecosystem had lost much of its radioactivity because the isotope was concentrated in this one fungus, which had become highly radioactive.”
He doesn’t say, in this article anyway, whether there’s any evidence of mycelia being capable of actually “digesting” or otherwise reducing the half-life of the radioactivity, but still, pretty neat, huh? I’m definitely gonna read his book!
Wow…that’s pretty cool. Brings new meaning to the term “magic mushroom”!
Wow…that’s pretty cool. Brings new meaning to the term “magic mushroom”!
Modern day alchemy, mushrooms that can turn radiation into lead. Wouldn’t that be amazing! This should be researched.
There is also some evidence that radiation can be altered by bacteria. Another thing that I’ve heard is that radiation has no effect on a cockroach.
Modern day alchemy, mushrooms that can turn radiation into lead. Wouldn’t that be amazing! This should be researched.
There is also some evidence that radiation can be altered by bacteria. Another thing that I’ve heard is that radiation has no effect on a cockroach.
I did a quick bit of research online and can’t find any evidence of the missing fuel rods being located. The most recent account of the rods are (interestingly enough) found in a Barack Obama press release of 2005
“A recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that inadequate oversight and incomplete safety procedures have lead to lost, misplaced or unaccounted-for nuclear fuel rods…
…officials are still investigating the Humboldt Bay plant’s missing spent nuclear material.”
http://obama.senate.gov/press/050608-obama_amendment_would_require_/
(Mom, I knew Dad had worked there and that was why I was asking. I was curious about the social history/myth of the plant.)
I did a quick bit of research online and can’t find any evidence of the missing fuel rods being located. The most recent account of the rods are (interestingly enough) found in a Barack Obama press release of 2005
“A recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said that inadequate oversight and incomplete safety procedures have lead to lost, misplaced or unaccounted-for nuclear fuel rods…
…officials are still investigating the Humboldt Bay plant’s missing spent nuclear material.”
http://obama.senate.gov/press/050608-obama_amendment_would_require_/
(Mom, I knew Dad had worked there and that was why I was asking. I was curious about the social history/myth of the plant.)
I used to work there. Eight and a half years as a security guard with Burns Security. I think I started around 1979ish. I worked there after the plant had been shut down for seismic studies and all the way through much of the decommissioning of the nuclear unit.
I first went there because they paid a bit more than the minimum wage gas station job I had at the time. By the time I left they were paying $10 an hour or more with some benefits- good money at the time, especially for guards.
Believe it or not, myself and one of the other guards actually got to touch a nuclear fuel rod. Strange though it may seem- and I still don’t understand why- the rods don’t get really “hot” until they’ve been in use for a while.
So, we were posted at Gate 13, which was the main gate coming out of the nuclear area, and one of the PG&E guys had the fuel rods on the ground. He’d pick each one up and wipe it off with a clean cloth and then test the cloth with a geiger counter, or whatever it was called, and then place it in a storage container.
The guy told us they were fuel rods and cost something like 3 million dollars a piece and they were being shipped back from whence they came as they weren’t to be used since the unit was closing down.
They guy I was with asked if he could touch one and the PG&E guy said, “sure”. After he touched it, I had to, of course.
The rods were about 6′ long, if memory serves me correct, and about 3/4″ to an inch wide. They had pointed tips on each end where they’d fit into the reactor and little grey pellets about 3/4 of an inch long spaced about 6″ apart inside the tube. The rods were coated with some kind of clear glass or plastic so you could see what was inside them.
For those that don’t know, the nuclear unit was known as Unit 3 and was on the north(east?) side of the plant. If you’re looking at the bay from 101 it’s the white building on the right of the complex. There used to be a barber pole type smoke stack above it that was taken down some years ago.
The other two units the the left of it are Units 1 & 2, Unit 1 being the smokestack on the left. I believe both run on either natural gas or crude oil depending on what’s available. The crude is stored in those big tanks, known as Tank 1 and Tank 2 on the southwest end of the plant.
My brother in law started out as a guard there, too. That’s where I met him. He ended up being hired by PG&E and is now a Senior Operator at the plant.
It was around 1988ish when they finally cut the guard force. I think there was maybe 20 of us left before the cut. They were only going to keep 6 of us, I think. I had just enough seniority I could of stayed on as the relief guy- covering other people’s shifts when they took time off or were sick.
I decided it was time to move on. Most of the other guards I worked with, that stayed on, are still there. There’s actually a bunch of new ones there now, too, as they beefed things up after 9/11.
I used to work there. Eight and a half years as a security guard with Burns Security. I think I started around 1979ish. I worked there after the plant had been shut down for seismic studies and all the way through much of the decommissioning of the nuclear unit.
I first went there because they paid a bit more than the minimum wage gas station job I had at the time. By the time I left they were paying $10 an hour or more with some benefits- good money at the time, especially for guards.
Believe it or not, myself and one of the other guards actually got to touch a nuclear fuel rod. Strange though it may seem- and I still don’t understand why- the rods don’t get really “hot” until they’ve been in use for a while.
So, we were posted at Gate 13, which was the main gate coming out of the nuclear area, and one of the PG&E guys had the fuel rods on the ground. He’d pick each one up and wipe it off with a clean cloth and then test the cloth with a geiger counter, or whatever it was called, and then place it in a storage container.
The guy told us they were fuel rods and cost something like 3 million dollars a piece and they were being shipped back from whence they came as they weren’t to be used since the unit was closing down.
They guy I was with asked if he could touch one and the PG&E guy said, “sure”. After he touched it, I had to, of course.
The rods were about 6′ long, if memory serves me correct, and about 3/4″ to an inch wide. They had pointed tips on each end where they’d fit into the reactor and little grey pellets about 3/4 of an inch long spaced about 6″ apart inside the tube. The rods were coated with some kind of clear glass or plastic so you could see what was inside them.
For those that don’t know, the nuclear unit was known as Unit 3 and was on the north(east?) side of the plant. If you’re looking at the bay from 101 it’s the white building on the right of the complex. There used to be a barber pole type smoke stack above it that was taken down some years ago.
The other two units the the left of it are Units 1 & 2, Unit 1 being the smokestack on the left. I believe both run on either natural gas or crude oil depending on what’s available. The crude is stored in those big tanks, known as Tank 1 and Tank 2 on the southwest end of the plant.
My brother in law started out as a guard there, too. That’s where I met him. He ended up being hired by PG&E and is now a Senior Operator at the plant.
It was around 1988ish when they finally cut the guard force. I think there was maybe 20 of us left before the cut. They were only going to keep 6 of us, I think. I had just enough seniority I could of stayed on as the relief guy- covering other people’s shifts when they took time off or were sick.
I decided it was time to move on. Most of the other guards I worked with, that stayed on, are still there. There’s actually a bunch of new ones there now, too, as they beefed things up after 9/11.
Oh, and I believe the “storage in place” Bill referred to above is officially called SafeStore. The spent rods are in a pool underneath Unit 3. They’ll be moved, eventually, just outside the plant to an underground bunker type place over by Buhne Point, if I have the location right. They’ve had some news stories on that locally.
Oh, and I believe the “storage in place” Bill referred to above is officially called SafeStore. The spent rods are in a pool underneath Unit 3. They’ll be moved, eventually, just outside the plant to an underground bunker type place over by Buhne Point, if I have the location right. They’ve had some news stories on that locally.
Fred, I hope you don’t glow in the dark after touching that rod.
Ernie and Barb, perhaps someone could figure out a way to teach the cockroaches to eat those mushrooms after they have absorbed the radiation…maybe somehow solve two ugly problems at once.
Fred, I hope you don’t glow in the dark after touching that rod.
Ernie and Barb, perhaps someone could figure out a way to teach the cockroaches to eat those mushrooms after they have absorbed the radiation…maybe somehow solve two ugly problems at once.
Fred, that is pretty incredible! I read your whole piece fascinated!
BTW, the actual name is Safestor–some acronym I assume. Did you ever hear what (if anything) was found out about the missing rods?
Fred, that is pretty incredible! I read your whole piece fascinated!
BTW, the actual name is Safestor–some acronym I assume. Did you ever hear what (if anything) was found out about the missing rods?
Kym, maybe it is just a shortened version of “Safe Storage”???
Kym, maybe it is just a shortened version of “Safe Storage”???
To the best of my knowledge, they never found the missing rod(s). Seems to me I read it was actually pieces of a rod, but I may have that wrong.
I kind of wonder if the rod actually existed at all? There might well have been some snafu where an incorrect inventory was made when they started the records. I don’t know.
Yes, you’re probably right. It might well be Safestor, a shortened version of Safe Storage.
To the best of my knowledge, they never found the missing rod(s). Seems to me I read it was actually pieces of a rod, but I may have that wrong.
I kind of wonder if the rod actually existed at all? There might well have been some snafu where an incorrect inventory was made when they started the records. I don’t know.
Yes, you’re probably right. It might well be Safestor, a shortened version of Safe Storage.
The rods have to be near a bunch of other rods for the reaction to begin and the rods then heat up. My wife’s dad was a safety engineer at Oak Ridge. When they were making the refined uranium for the first bombs, they did not tell anyone what they were working on. When the physicist Richard Feynman visited from Los Alamos, he was horrified to find that they were storing far too much U235 in the same place and that they did not understand that putting it in the next room or the room above or below might start a chain reaction. Fortunately, they were not quite to that point.
Thanks Fred for a great story. You do mention that the fuel was trucked in and out of the county, presumably a few rods at a time.
The rods have to be near a bunch of other rods for the reaction to begin and the rods then heat up. My wife’s dad was a safety engineer at Oak Ridge. When they were making the refined uranium for the first bombs, they did not tell anyone what they were working on. When the physicist Richard Feynman visited from Los Alamos, he was horrified to find that they were storing far too much U235 in the same place and that they did not understand that putting it in the next room or the room above or below might start a chain reaction. Fortunately, they were not quite to that point.
Thanks Fred for a great story. You do mention that the fuel was trucked in and out of the county, presumably a few rods at a time.
“he was horrified to find that they were storing far too much U235 in the same place”
There is a reason why they call a nuclear reaction “Critical Mass.”
No kidding, Richard Faynman?
“he was horrified to find that they were storing far too much U235 in the same place”
There is a reason why they call a nuclear reaction “Critical Mass.”
No kidding, Richard Faynman?
Well for such a short post on my part, thanks to you guys, I found out a great deal about our local plant. Pretty interesting stuff.
Well for such a short post on my part, thanks to you guys, I found out a great deal about our local plant. Pretty interesting stuff.
If the growth at any cost crowd gets their way and builds a container port and freight railway corridor to the east, some of the nuclear waste will come right through here, on its way to Reno and then to Yucca Mountain. One reason why they want to build a port and rail line here is the isolation of the area itself – a lot less expensive and fewer fatalities when the inevitable catastrophe happens.
Have a peaceful day,
Bill
[email protected]
Chris said
Finally, how do we get the waste to Nevada from all over the country safely? Trains and trucks crash and spill all the time. It’s inevitable that we’d have some terrible events in transport.
If the growth at any cost crowd gets their way and builds a container port and freight railway corridor to the east, some of the nuclear waste will come right through here, on its way to Reno and then to Yucca Mountain. One reason why they want to build a port and rail line here is the isolation of the area itself – a lot less expensive and fewer fatalities when the inevitable catastrophe happens.
Have a peaceful day,
Bill
[email protected]
Chris said
Finally, how do we get the waste to Nevada from all over the country safely? Trains and trucks crash and spill all the time. It’s inevitable that we’d have some terrible events in transport.
The reason for “storage in place” of the fuel rods is because utilities are not allowed to reprocess the fuel for further use in more plants, like the Europeans do. We only get 5-10% of the total energy out of each rod due to this ridiculous rule. The French, British, Germans and Japanese do just fine with all their nuke plants, but American protestors always freak out over anything nuclear. Meanwhile, burning coal in power plants has released tens of thousands of tons of radioactive uranium INTO THE AIR as a result of combustion. Even the Sierra Club admits this fact. This is what happens when emotions get in the way of logic and rationale.
The reason for “storage in place” of the fuel rods is because utilities are not allowed to reprocess the fuel for further use in more plants, like the Europeans do. We only get 5-10% of the total energy out of each rod due to this ridiculous rule. The French, British, Germans and Japanese do just fine with all their nuke plants, but American protestors always freak out over anything nuclear. Meanwhile, burning coal in power plants has released tens of thousands of tons of radioactive uranium INTO THE AIR as a result of combustion. Even the Sierra Club admits this fact. This is what happens when emotions get in the way of logic and rationale.
So what is the reasoning behind the “ridiculous rule?” Does reprocessing cause some danger?
So what is the reasoning behind the “ridiculous rule?” Does reprocessing cause some danger?
The process is called SAFSTOR:
Until the federal government approves the construction and operation of a waste-storage disposal facility, the Humboldt Bay plant will continue to store the spent fuel assemblies on-site, in keeping with safety practices approved by the NRC. The 390 spent fuel assemblies are now kept and monitored under specially treated water in a stainless-steel lined, spent fuel pool in the fuel handling building (SAFSTOR).
Thanks I appreciate that information.
The process is called SAFSTOR:
Until the federal government approves the construction and operation of a waste-storage disposal facility, the Humboldt Bay plant will continue to store the spent fuel assemblies on-site, in keeping with safety practices approved by the NRC. The 390 spent fuel assemblies are now kept and monitored under specially treated water in a stainless-steel lined, spent fuel pool in the fuel handling building (SAFSTOR).
Thanks I appreciate that information.
well what do u all think of nuclear power now? will it be 100% safe EVER? I won’t chance it and i hope to encourage others not to as well!