Nuclear Reactor in Texas Leaking Cooling Water

The New York Times (via Drudge Report) ^ | April 18, 2003 | MATTHEW L. WALD

[radmanptn]

PWR http://www.nukeworker.com/nuke_facilities/North_America/usa/nrc/region4/stp/index.shtml

[Paleo Conservative]

Shoulda used Lone Star Beer, not water.

The national beer of Texas!

[P8riot]

The purpose of a Primary shield tank is many fold, one of which is to reduce the amount of post shutdown neutron flux to allow for quicker ingress to the containment area for maintenance or repairs, otherwise you would be waiting an awfully long time after shutdown before you could do anything. I find it hard to believe that civilian PWR's don't use this configuration. But then again, nothing in the civilian nuclear program would really surprise me.

[eastforker]

OK,I think I understand,the water is pumped in at 2000psi but it only reaches 500 degrees,I can understand this now.I was thinking in the opposite direction when BFW is at 850 psi,to enter boiler generating 600psi steam generating 750 degrees.

[P8riot]

All the commercial reactors in the US are single wall pressure vessels.

WRONG! It would be more correct to say that all of the commercial PWR's are single wall pressure vessels. BWR's are bu natire not pressure vessels. Besides the Primary Shield is not a pressure boundary. It is immediately external to the reactor pressure vessel.

[P8riot]

bu natire = by nature (typing too fast)

[Paleo Conservative]

OK,I think I understand,the water is pumped in at 2000psi but it only reaches 500 degrees,I can understand this now.I was thinking in the opposite direction when BFW is at 850 psi,to enter boiler generating 600psi steam generating 750 degrees.

Why would anyone want to use English measurements to do these calculations? Isn't it a lot easier to use SI units?

[Liberty Valance]

So thats why the sunsets have had such a brilliant glow lately :o)

[Petronski]

The French picked one reactor design and built all plants based on that single design. And they reprocess their fuel rods too.

[ninenot]

OK, and so?

BTW is this a Babcock/Wilcox generator, Westinghouse, or GE?

[Starstruck]

Don't forget ABWR.

[Petronski]

OMG! On the left? Is that Bill O'Reilly?

[ninenot]

Actually, the Russki generators were highly cost-efficient--much more so than the French ones. But the Russki ones did have this little fire problem.

[radmanptn]

There is a lot of differences between civilian nuclear power and navy nuclear power, like power entries and higher contamination levels.

[eastforker]

Because many of us are not scientist or engineers ,just plain old blue collar workers with a minimal understanding of physics.Thats what makes FR so great,we can understand the problem without having to know the fundamentals of a nuclear reactor or how an atom is split.We are not elitist here as far as I know,we are conservatist yearning for the truth on a leval we can all understand.

[P8riot]

OK, and so?

So. It's probably not primary coolant, so there is no need to panic. If it were primary coolant, this wouldn't be a leak with 2000 lbs behind it it would be a rupture.

BTW these units are Westinghouse.

[brutuss]

Commercial reactors are a bit different than naval reactors. They do indeed add boron to the primary water which acts as a chemical shim over core life. Initally the concentration is about 1200 ppm, reduced by 2 - 3 ppm per day, this allows all control rods to remain more or less fully withdrawn at all times (excepting axial power shaping rods which are positioned based on other criteria).

A shield water tank is not used, given that the larger available space allows for a massive solid vault to be used for biological shielding.

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

in related news, al gore the man who uncovered LOVE CANAL claims to have discovered the leak

[P8riot]

Like I said, nothing would surprise me. Are you now, or have you ever been in the nuclear industry, either military or civilian?

[P8riot]

A shield water tank is not used, given that the larger available space allows for a massive solid vault to be used for biological shielding.

Now that makes sense to me. I guess you get a little myopic sometimes operating on a single class of plant.