Nuclear snow?

[dustinf]

Sometimes I question living down wind from a nuclear power plant.

Weird story about how steam from the cooling towers created a snow storm:

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/01/23/weather-service-snow-caused-by-beaver-valley-power-plant/

 

[EODRay]

Looks like it's time to move.

 

[idnative1948]

Grew up here in Idaho where pops worked at a nuke plant for 30 years. I only glow on the third Monday of every month. Us kids have up to this point no major medical issues and dad and mom lived into their 90's.
Just hoping for their genes and not radiation.

 

[Much2hunt]

I work at a Nuc plant..physically impossible for cooling tower steam to cause you any harm. just sayin..

 

[d-bone20917]

I work at a nuke plant too. The cooling towers do make nice man made clouds which result in rain and snow if you are nearby, but as Much2hunt says it's harmless. It's just water vapor.

 

[dustinf]

I know.

I've worked on many cooling towers. I just thought it was odd how much man made snow it produced, and how it was in such a long band on the radar.

 

[noharleyyet]

Homer did it?

 

[d-bone20917]

I know.

I've worked on many cooling towers. I just thought it was odd how much man made snow it produced, and how it was in such a long band on the radar.

I questioned that too. Ours usually just drops in the parking lot.

 

[Z Barebow]

I work at a nuke plant too. The cooling towers do make nice man made clouds which result in rain and snow if you are nearby, but as Much2hunt says it's harmless. It's just water vapor.

+2- I was a contractor at a nuke plant for 20 years. Only fundamental difference between a nuclear plant and coal fired is the fuel to produce the steam. Most plants in this country were built on a closed loop system. Simplistically, there are two loops, one loop for steam generators and second loop for cooling. Water/steam from one loop never touches the other.

Same thing could have happened from a natural gas or coal fired plant.

(Sorry to be so serious, but it bugs me when misinformation could be interpreted as a "problem")

 

[dustinf]

+2- I was a contractor at a nuke plant for 20 years. Only fundamental difference between a nuclear plant and coal fired is the fuel to produce the steam. Most plants in this country were built on a closed loop system. Simplistically, there are two loops, one loop for steam generators and second loop for cooling. Water/steam from one loop never touches the other.

Same thing could have happened from a natural gas or coal fired plant.

(Sorry to be so serious, but it bugs me when misinformation could be interpreted as a "problem")

Dude, 90% of my income is from power plants.

I wasn't hyping any "mis-information," I was pointing out an odd meteorologic event.

 

[Dinkshooter]

We have a dry wall plant in town, there is no doubt the steam from that spawns little snow flurries many winter days. You can drive 10 minutes east and there will be no snow.

 

[Z Barebow]

Dude, 90% of my income is from power plants.

I wasn't hyping any "mis-information," I was pointing out an odd meteorologic event.

I understand you know, but much of the general public thinks the snow might have radioactivity.

In working within the plant for 20 years, (Although I didn't work in there every day) I was never exposed to one millirem of radioactive contamination, and much of my work was in the radiologically controlled areas of the plant where I wore TLD's and dosimetry.

I had more exposure from a single sunburn or a single xray than I ever did from 20 years at the plant.

 

[dustinf]

I understand you know, but much of the general public thinks the snow might have radioactivity.

I see your point.

I've never worked inside a nuke plant, but I've worked inside many coal fired plants building scaffold.

Replaced the wooden insides of a few cooling towers.

 

[Jon Boy]

I see Barebows point as well. Ask most of the general public how electricity is produced from nuclear energy and they will tell you it must be some sort of crazy chemical reaction that produces electricity LOL
Pretty crazy about the affects the steam has on the weather though

 

[Z Barebow]

dustin- No harm no foul!

I am no engineer or systems operator, but I went through a power plant theory course/orientation every year as part of my annual security clearance renewal. Knowledge is a good thing. (As you might guess, I am pro nuclear). We haven't built a new nuke plant since 1978. Think about the technology which was used in these original plants,,, and what we have available today if we were to build plants.

I could go on and on, but time to hop off of my soap box.

 

[d-bone20917]

dustin- No harm no foul!

I am no engineer or systems operator, but I went through a power plant theory course/orientation every year as part of my annual security clearance renewal. Knowledge is a good thing. (As you might guess, I am pro nuclear). We haven't built a new nuke plant since 1978. Think about the technology which was used in these original plants,,, and what we have available today if we were to build plants.

I could go on and on, but time to hop off of my soap box.

Work is ongoing right now to build four new ones. Two in Georgia and two in South Carolina. I don't think you will see anymore started for a while though. The low natural gas prices just don't make new construction viable.

 

[dustinf]

dustin- No harm no foul!

I am no engineer or systems operator, but I went through a power plant theory course/orientation every year as part of my annual security clearance renewal. Knowledge is a good thing. (As you might guess, I am pro nuclear). We haven't built a new nuke plant since 1978. Think about the technology which was used in these original plants,,, and what we have available today if we were to build plants.

I could go on and on, but time to hop off of my soap box.

Westinghouse(now Toshiba I believe) has a huge facility here full of nuclear engineers. All developing technology for modern nuclear plants. Like you said, it's pretty sad most of it won't ever be used in the US.

The really sad part is 90% of the engineers/scientists are foreign. A couple generations of American students avoided nuclear studies because of the negative conations.