Wayne's View of Nuclear Power.

Because of September 11, 2001

I will not identify any of the nuclear power sites pictured in these pages.
I am a nuclear worker.
These pages are for nuclear workers; that they may show friends and family

what they do or where they have been.

I welcome comments and any pictures you may wish to share to these pages.
If I don't know you, I hope that I meet you soon.
If I do know you I'm looking forward to working with you again.

Be Safe!

contact me: pwjones@arkwest.co

My other pages: Wayne's View of Arkansas Wayne's View Civil Awareness

Until we learn to safely burn hydrogen,

We have a great need for

Nuclear Power!

Irradiated Nuclear Fuel Assembly
Good display of the "Cherenkov effect"

The sinister oil barons of the world would have you to believe
anything else. They go to any length to preserve the value of
their commodity. Today nuclear power costs per kilowatt-hour (kwh)
is slightly higher than the kwh cost for coal (by a fraction of a cent).
But it is less than the cost for oil.
Nuclear electricity has been shown to have saved
American consumers at least $30 billion and
perhaps as much as $70 billion over the past decade
by replacing expensive imported oil and gas.

Facts about Everyday Radiation Exposure

The units used to measure radiation are the rem and the millirem (1/1000th of one rem).

Individuals receive an average exposure from all sources of about 360 millirems per year.

This includes natural sources such as rocks and cosmic radiation and man-made sources (such as X-rays).

At less than 1000 millirem (or 1 rem), health effects on test animals are so small that conclusions cannot be made.

Radiation doses in excess of 25,000 to 50,000 millirem (25 to 50 rem) are typically required to cause

minor blood changes detectable only by laboratory examination. There are no other clinically observable

effects until a dose of more than 50,000 millirems (50 rems) is received.

Sleeping next to someone for 8 hours: 2 mrems Exposure comes from the naturally radioactive potassium in the other person's body. Coal plant, living within 50 miles: .03 mrem There is much thorium and uranium in coal. Living within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant adds .009 mrem of exposure. Both figures are considered extremely low levels. Living in a masonry home: 7 mrems Stone, brick and adobe have natural radioisotopes in them. Living on the Earth: 200 mrems We are living in a sea of radon. It is made from the natural decay of uranium and thorium in the soil, left over from the creation of the solar system. Radon is a rare gas that diffuses out of soil and into the air. It contributes more than half of our background exposure. Smoking: up to 16,000 mrems The tobacco leaf acts like the absorbing surface of charcoal in a radon test kit. It collects long-lived isotopes of airborne radon, like lead-210 and polonium. Small portions of the lungs can get relatively whopping doses, compared to background levels. Porcelain teeth or crowns: tenths of a rem per tooth. Uranium is often added to these dental products to increase whiteness and florescence. Air Travel: 1 mrem per 1000 miles 30,000 feet above the ground you're closer to the ionizing radiation (high-energy gammas well as particles) from the sun. Grand Central Station, NYC: 120 mrem for employees Its granite walls have a high uranium content. Brazil Nuts: This is the world's most radioactive food due to high radium concentrations 1000-times that of average foods. The US Capitol Building in Washington DC: This building is so radioactive, due to the high uranium content in its granite walls, it could never be licensed as a nuclear power reactor site. The average worker in a nuclear power station: Less than 2 mrem per day!

When we mention nuclear power, we are often reminded of the "Three Mile Island" incident.
Scott Johnson has an excellent site that goes into detail on that event as well as a good

representation of the workings of a pressurized water reactor.

Inside TMI
March 28, 1979

Scott's web sight also contains good links to other nuclear information web sites!

Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

On April 25th -26th, 1986 the world's worst nuclear power accident occurred at Chernobyl in the former USSR (now Ukraine). The Chernobyl nuclear power plant located 80 miles north of Kiev had 4 reactors and while testing reactor number 4, numerous safety features were disabled, or disregarded. At 1:23am control of the reactor was lost creating explosions and a fireball which blew off the reactor's heavy steel and concrete lid.

The Chernobyl accident killed more than 30 people immediately, and as a result of the high radiation levels in the surrounding 20-mile radius, 135,00 people had to be evacuated.

Chernobyl Model Drawing

The Chernobyl Disaster was caused by an emergency shutdown experiment ordered by the Soviet Government. The operators of the reactor advised against the experiment but were ordered to proceed!

American Reactors and Reactor Containment Buildings as well as those in Europe and the rest of the world are built to superior standards and regulatory commitments! This anomaly to the Nuclear Industry will never be allowed in the future.

Article: Chernobyl - 15 Years Later
(April 26, 2001)
By: Canadian Nuclear Association

New Exclucive!

Pictures of Midland Head Preparing For Journey to Davis Besse

Scenes of a refueling outage in progress inside a modern US nuclear power station.

This is still under construction I have not narrated the pictures but they depict dismantling and

refueling an undisclosed pressurized water nuclear reactor in the United States.

The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) "Watch Dog" of the Nuclear Industry

Click the Seal to go to their site.

Guest Contributed Picture Gallery

I am counting on guests of this page to fill the gallery.
Send pictures of nuclear worker's interest to:
pwjones@arkwest.com

Random Shots
Nuclear work in progress

What happens in decommissioning a nuclear facility? More to come soon!

"Core Barrel"
Fuel assemblies are placed in a rack in the bottom of a nuclear reactor each manufacturer of reactors has a different technical name for the rack, but it is commonly accepted as a core barrel. The picture above is a core barrel that is about to be cut up for disposal as the power station it has served is being decommissioned and dismantled. The core barrel has become irradiated by near 20 years of service and is deep under water for shielding from the radiation. Electrical lighting in the building was turned off for the picture so that the "Cherenkov effect" could be shown more dramatically. (Highly eradiated particles travel in water faster than light can travel in water in doing so they create this fascinating glow.)
Cherenkov, Pavel Alekseyevich1904–90, Soviet physicist. He shared with the Soviet physicists I. M. Frank and I. Y. Tamm the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery (1934) of Cherenkov radiation. His research opened the way to new studies of high-energy subatomic particles and of cosmic rays. " The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001"

Above ground Storage of spent fuel facility. (Thank you Charlie)

Construction of above ground storage casks.

What happens with RAD WASTE?
Links to much more nuclear information.

About me:
My background is electrical, that is what brought me into nuclear power.

I went to ANO as a contractor electrician about 14 years ago.
I found so many things of interest there I felt I had to try them all.
I now work for Framatome ANP in refueling services.

I am a reactor technician / fuel handler, and I do enjoy my work.

contact me: pwjones@arkwest.com

Special Thanks to my wife/editor
"Dee"