Wayne's View of Nuclear Power

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

I went to ANO as a contractor electrician about 20 years ago.
I found so many things of interest there I felt I had to try them all.
I now work for AREVA in refueling services.

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

contact me: pwjones0@earthlink.net

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!

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 oft heir 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

Scotts web site also contains links to other nuclear information.