Refueling a NUCLEAR REACTOR - Smarter Every Day 311

0:00 [Destin] Is that a hot rod?

0:01 [Man] It is very hot.

0:03 [D] That's a very hot rod.

0:04 [M] YES.

0:04 [Chuckles knowingly] If that comes out of the water, we would no longer be here.

0:07 None of us up here.

0:08 [Destin] Really?

0:09 Really.

0:10 Hey, it's me, Destin.

0:10 Welcome back to Smarter Every Day.

0:12 I am so incredibly excited to share this video with you.

0:16 I have never experienced anything like this.

0:19 I've wanted to learn about nuclear power for years,

0:22 but I purposefully kept myself ignorant.

0:25 I deep dive into aerodynamics and all material of science, things like that.

0:30 But nuclear power is this thing that I

0:33 didn't want to approach until the time was right.

0:36 I'm telling you the time is right.

0:38 We're about to learn about nuclear power by seeing it

0:42 and by meeting the people who are making nuclear power.

0:46 And just we're going to walk inside an active nuclear power plant,

0:49 not just on any normal day.

0:51 We're going to walk in to a power plant on the day that they're refueling it.

0:56 They're taking old the fuel rods out and putting new fuel rods back in.

1:02 And we're going to see how they do that.

1:04 And it has totally demystified nuclear power for me.

1:08 This experience just changed how I feel about a nuclear

1:12 power plant being just down the road from where I live.

1:15 It's awesome.

1:16 So this is what I would ask of you to do for you.

1:19 If you would just watch the video as if you're there with me and we're walking

1:23 around and we're asking the questions together

1:26 and we're experiencing it and give yourself some grace.

1:29 Because there are moments where I have no

1:31 idea what's going on, and I'm just asking questions.

1:34 And I think it's okay to not know what's happening and then just let it happen.

1:38 And then later on in the video, we'll understand more about it.

1:41 So this is a really neat experience.

1:44 I hope you really enjoy it.

1:45 This is unlike the access most people get to the nuclear industry.

1:49 So this is very, very special.

1:52 And I want to thank the people that let this happen.

1:54 This is the culmination of months

1:57 of coordination and training and people working

1:59 behind the scene to give us this very special look into a very special

2:03 place you can't just take a camera here you have to have the proper

2:07 training and a ton of people made this happen I'm so grateful for that.

2:11 But let's go to an active nuclear power plant

2:14 and learn about nuclear power in a very real way.

2:17 Let's go get Smarter Every Day.

2:22 So something's about to happen that we've been wanting to happen forever.

2:26 We're going to get to go to a nuclear plant,

2:28 and this is my friend, Phillip, who forever...

2:32 I've called him Jimmy Neutron, as long as I can remember.

2:36 And the thing about Phillip is he's very moderate, very level.

2:42 How would you say...

2:43 Not very expressive.

2:45 This is his angry face.

2:47 This is also his happy face.

2:50 This is his excited face.

2:52 And that's who you want working in a nuclear plant, I feel.

2:56 Yeah?

2:56 I'm the most boring man you'll meet.

2:59 I have to get extra medium shirts.

3:02 Extra medium?

3:04 Okay.

3:05 All right, George, we're going to go to a nuclear plant.

3:08 You excited?

3:09 [G] I'm so pumped.

3:10 [D] All right.

3:10 There it is over there.

3:12 Where are we at, Phillip?

3:14 [P] We are leaving the training center And you are just east of the plant.

3:18 [D] What's the name of the plant?

3:20 [P] This is Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant.

3:22 [D] All right.

3:22 This is the third largest nuclear plant in the United States, correct?

3:27 [P] I don't know.

3:29 [Both laughing] It's one of the biggest ones.

3:31 [D] I believe it is.

3:32 But you guys have three units, correct?

3:34 [P] We have three units.

3:35 We are the only plant that has all three units under one roof.

3:44 [D] Watch your step Interesting.

3:46 Yeah, the safety at nuclear plants, I've heard, is over the top.

3:51 [P] Oh, yeah.

3:52 We have rules on how to climb a flight of stairs.

3:54 [D] Really?

3:55 [P] It's crazy.

3:58 But people rarely get hurt, so I guess it works.

4:02 [D] There you go.

4:03 What's up, Bill?

4:04 [B] Hey, how are you doing?

4:05 [D] Doing well.

4:06 All right.

4:07 So this is the security?

4:08 [B] It is.

4:09 This is our Westgate house.

4:10 So we're getting to the plant.

4:11 [D] Okay, cool.

4:12 Sounds good.

4:13 Bill, what's your deal here at the plant?

4:15 [B] I work with the instrument shop right now.

4:17 I've worked here for about 15 years.

4:20 I'll spend my some time in operations as a licensed operator.

4:25 [D] Is this where I need to cut off the camera for security stuff?

4:28 [B] Yeah, that's probably a good spot.

4:29 [D] Okay, we're all cut the camera here.

4:31 We just went through a lot of security that I'm not allowed to show you.

4:34 And it's pretty intense.

4:36 There's a lady that you'll probably see on camera here in a minute.

4:38 She's got a rifle.

4:40 I feel comfortable with that.

4:42 That's pretty good.

4:43 Well, we want to make sure everybody stays safe while they're working here.

4:45 [B] We don't want any issues, the wrong people be in here, right?

4:47 [D] So when you come in to work every day, you've got to go through that.

4:50 [B] Yes, sir, every day.

4:51 [D] All right, good.

4:51 All right.

4:52 Bill, what we have here?

4:53 [B] So these are our two buildings.

4:54 You'll see the larger building over here is our reactor building,

4:57 our shorter building over here is our turbine building.

5:00 Reactor building has got the reactors that are housed in there.

5:03 It's really a secondary containment just in case something went awry.

5:06 And then our turbine building over here is where we

5:08 got our turbine and our generator where we produce our power.

5:11 And then you can actually over here see all

5:12 the lines that are coming out of the plant.

5:14 That's where we supply 500,000 volts to the valley,

5:17 which goes to the substations out there to our homes, really.

5:21 Neutrons, electrons.

5:23 [D] So the reactor is actually in there.

5:25 And then this is the generator, turbine, all this.

5:28 And then that's where it's distribution.

5:31 The security stuff, it's pretty serious.

5:34 [B] I think so.

5:35 [D] Yeah.

5:36 Am I allowed to say what we had to do to get in the building?

5:40 [B] I mean, yeah, you can.

5:41 [D] But biometrics.

5:42 [B] Yeah.

5:43 [D] Biometrics.

5:44 Yeah, that was and not normal biometrics.

5:49 Browns Ferry nuclear power plant is run by TVA, the Tennessee Valley Authority.

5:55 It's a public corporation created during the New Deal,

5:57 coming out of the Great Depression,

5:59 to help manage and protect and use the Tennessee

6:01 Valley's vast waterway system as effectively as possible.

6:05 And today, it's become a major energy provider in the area,

6:08 pushing power out to over 10 million people.

6:11 This plant, Browns Ferry, was constructed in the 1960s and 1970s,

6:15 companies and is a huge deal for my local community.

6:18 We headed down to what's called dosimetry,

6:20 where we would be checked in and given devices called dosimeters that would

6:24 track our exposure to ionizing radiation as we move throughout the plant.

6:29 This video is a part of a deep dive series

6:31 on nuclear power that we're doing here on Smarter Every Day.

6:34 In a previous video, we learned about these dosimeters when George and I had

6:38 to undergo radiation training in order to enter the plant today.

6:41 If you want to go deeper into nuclear power, check out this series.

6:44 It's pretty cool.

6:45 You can subscribe on YouTube if you're into that, or you can sign

6:48 up for the email list on smartereveryday.com when the new videos come out,

6:52 I'll send them to you.

6:53 In an earlier video in the series, we explored EBR-1,

6:56 the first nuclear reactor to generate electricity and put it on the grid.

7:00 There's so much more that we're going to learn about in this deep dive,

7:03 from how we handle radioactive materials to future

7:07 nuclear technology to how to deal with nuclear waste.

7:10 In upcoming videos, we're going to explore all

7:12 this and learn everything we can about this important energy option.

7:15 But right now, let's get back to the plant.

7:17 How's it going?

7:18 I'm Destin.

7:18 [Amanda] Destin, nice to meet you.

7:19 [D] Nice to meet you.

7:20 [A] Okay, just one at a time.

7:22 I'll need you to step into...

7:27 [D] This?

7:27 [A] Yes, the gem five.

7:29 [D] Okay.

7:31 Sounds good.

7:32 [A] A little room here.

7:34 [D] And so what are we doing here?

7:35 You said your name was- Amanda.

7:37 I'm Destin.

7:38 Yeah.

7:38 [A] Radiation protection.

7:40 I'm the one that issues dosimetry.

7:42 [D] Oh, great.

7:43 [A] Yes.

7:43 [D] Awesome.

7:44 So I go right in here?

7:45 [A] Step in, face the wall.

7:47 [D] Face the wall?

7:50 [MACHINE] Three, two, one.

7:51 [A] Be careful stepping out.

7:53 This little device, as far as it's your dosimeter of legal record.

7:59 [D] Okay.

8:00 [A] When this is read, it has dose on it.

8:03 When you log in, you'll have a self-reading dosimeter.

8:07 It's real-time.

8:07 [D] Okay.

8:09 I'll carry these with me at all times, right?

8:11 [A] Well, when you go into the RCA, you'll log into the SRD,

8:15 but this will be on your person all time.

8:17 [D] Okay.

8:18 Got it.

8:20 Do you track this for everybody in the entire plant?

8:22 [A] Anyone who has to go in the RCA, yes.

8:25 [D] Wow.

8:26 That's amazing.

8:27 [A] About 2,000.

8:28 During an outage, it could be anywhere from there to 4,000.

8:33 [D] Wow, that's amazing.

8:34 While we're waiting on dosimetry, this is Angela.

8:37 [A] Hi.

8:38 [D] What instructions did they give you?

8:40 [A] No, they just said just to be with you all,

8:42 just in case anything happened, and we needed to escort you all out.

8:45 [D] You're more intimidating than I expected.

8:47 [A] Really?

8:47 [D] You are.

8:48 Yes.

8:48 [A] Thank you.

8:49 [D] You're welcome.

8:52 Ma'am?

8:52 [A] You can hold this.

8:54 [D] Oh, thank you so much.

8:55 So this is my dosimeter.

8:57 [A] Dosimeter, yes.

8:58 [D] I should feel a bond with this.

9:00 [A] Yes.

9:00 [D] Okay, thank you.

9:01 [A] Do not lose it.

9:02 [D] Okay, great.

9:03 Thank you.

9:03 Are you excited to bond with your dosimeter?

9:05 [G] I just can't wait to meet it.

9:07 [D] There's a lot of stuff.

9:13 Good thing I have three chins.

9:16 Start clipping stuff to my chins.

9:18 [B] That's why I have the beard.

9:20 [D] That's why you have the beard?

9:21 [A] Are you excited?

9:22 [D] I'm very excited.

9:23 Did you see me do a little dance just then?

9:27 [A] It's good to have people excited here.

9:31 [D] That's good.

9:33 I'm seeing a lot of beards, man.

9:35 I don't have a beard.

9:36 Do they issue you that beard?

9:38 [Bearded Man] Yes, they do.

9:40 [D] He just got a mustache.

9:41 I don't have facial hair.

9:42 I don't feel like I can be here.

9:43 Bill thought I might find it interesting to check

9:45 in with some of people in the executive offices.

9:47 So we went upstairs and met Lionel Locke, the safety manager.

9:51 What's up, man?

9:52 [L] How are you doing?

9:52 I'm Lionel.

9:53 I'm Destin.

9:54 Nice to meet you.

9:54 [L] Nice to meet you.

9:55 [D] Yeah, pleasure.

9:55 Lionel, I have heard a word over and over

9:58 ever since I got here, and it's outage.

10:02 I've heard the word outage.

10:03 What is an outage?

10:05 [L] An outage means that the plant, when it's running, it's online.

10:09 That means we're making power, putting it out there in the transmission system.

10:12 We got to turn the plant off,

10:14 cool everything down open everything up so we can fix the valves,

10:18 fix the motors, and do the maintenance of the plant.

10:20 So we're not creating any power, we're not generating any electricity.

10:23 But this is a monster.

10:25 There's three units,

10:26 and it's a challenge to manage not just the unit that we have an outage,

10:30 we still have two reactors that are running.

10:32 So it's always a challenge, and it's a good team.

10:34 It takes a solid team to manage all of this.

10:37 Some of the other sites that may just have one unit,

10:39 a little easier for them because they just got that one unit in an outage.

10:42 That's all they got to focus on, but we're

10:43 still producing power with two other units.

10:45 [D] Okay, so there's three units.

10:47 Bill, there's three units here?

10:48 [B] Yes, sir.

10:49 [D] Okay.

10:50 What are the unit one, unit two, unit three?

10:53 Is that what you call them?

10:53 [B] Yes, sir.

10:53 Each operating at about 4,000 thermo megawatts,

10:56 putting out about 1,350 megawatts electric to the grid.

10:59 [D] What's going down for the outage?

11:01 [B] Right now, Unit 2 is down,

11:04 and we're refueling that and performing all the work that Lionel discussed,

11:08 and Unit 1 and 3 are operating.

11:10 [L] We are refueling outage.

11:12 Refueling outage means we are literally taking the spent fuel out,

11:16 putting in the spent fuel pool,

11:17 and we got around 330 new assemblies that we're putting inside the core.

11:21 You have your coal plants that have

11:23 railroad cars constantly coming in with coal.

11:26 We can run two years off of a reef,

11:28 off the nuclear fuel that we put in the pot for this outage.

11:31 [D] That's happening today.

11:32 [L] Right now, as we speak.

11:33 [D] So this is a big day to be here.

11:35 [L] Yes, it is.

11:35 [D] And this is why you brought me in on a Saturday.

11:37 [B] I did.

11:37 Yes, sir.

11:37 [D] Thank you so much, man.

11:39 Lionel, thank you.

11:40 [L] Appreciate it.

11:41 [D] Is this a fuel bundle, Bill?

11:43 [B] Yeah, actually, that is a mockup of a fuel bundle.

11:45 [D] So this is what we're refueling today?

11:48 [B] That's right.

11:49 Yeah.

11:50 This is the ATRIUM-11, I believe.

11:52 It is the style on this one.

11:53 [D] Okay.

11:53 [B] These are your fuel rods.

11:55 Actually, you got a good view of the fuel pellets here also.

11:58 [D] So these are the pellets.

12:00 All right.

12:01 And so we're pulling these things out with a crane and putting them back in?

12:04 [B] Correct.

12:05 Yeah.

12:05 [D] So these fuel rods are where the magic happens,

12:07 and I want to talk about it so much.

12:10 Someone actually sent me a book after one of the first videos in this series.

12:14 I opened the book.

12:15 It's made a a long time ago.

12:16 Sure enough, the exact reactor for Browns Ferry nuclear power plant is in there.

12:21 Look at that.

12:22 Those are the fuel bundles.

12:23 And I have been researching this so much.

12:26 The thing specifically I want to talk about

12:28 is the difference between a boiling water reactor,

12:30 which is what Browns Ferry is, and a pressurized water reactor.

12:34 But we just don't have time for that in this video.

12:36 But in a future video, we're going to talk to an internationally

12:39 recognized expert named Bill Williamson.

12:41 This guy knows so much.

12:43 We are going to learn this stuff, but this video is just not the place to do it.

12:48 But for now, let's go talk to the guy that's over this nuclear power plant.

12:52 [B] Trying to hide from us?

12:54 I got some people that wanted to meet you, Quinn.

12:58 What's up, Quinn?

12:59 [Q] Hey, man.

12:59 good to see you.

13:00 [D] How's it going?

13:00 [Q] Good.

13:01 [D] Yeah.

13:01 So I'm Destin.

13:02 [Q] Yeah.

13:03 [D] We met during my training, right?

13:05 [Q] Yeah.

13:05 [D] All right.

13:05 So I met Lionel, so far as safety guy, and you're the plant manager, right?

13:09 [Q] Correct.

13:09 [D] So I learned about the outage.

13:12 So we're in an outage.

13:13 No, not plant, unit Two.

13:15 Two is down.

13:16 Is that what that means up there?

13:18 [Q] Yeah.

13:18 So one of the benefits of the plant

13:20 manager's office is megawatt meters for all three units.

13:22 [D] Is that real?

13:23 [Q] Yeah.

13:24 [D] Absolutely real?

13:26 Okay.

13:26 [Q] So you can see two is down.

13:28 One is at 100% power.

13:30 Three is right at 91% power right now.

13:34 We're coming back up to 100 from the outage that we talked about.

13:38 [D] Okay, so how long does it take to come up to...

13:40 What is 100% in terms of megawatts?

13:42 [Q] About 1300 on a good cold river day.

13:45 [D] What do you mean by cold river day?

13:47 [Q] When the river's cold, it allows us to improve our vacuum and the condenser,

13:52 which improves our megawatt output.

13:53 [D] Really?

13:54 [Q] Yeah, it's temperature dependent.

13:56 [D] Tell me, when you see these dials up

13:59 here like this, what does that make you feel?

14:01 [Q] The one on the left makes me happy.

14:04 [D] Okay.

14:05 Yeah.

14:06 [Q] The one in the center is expected, right?

14:09 Every two years, you have to take a unit

14:12 down to change out a third of the nuclear fuel.

14:15 And that's what we're doing.

14:17 That's what you'll go see here in a little bit.

14:19 So they're moving fuel in and out of the core.

14:24 [D] And the one on the far right, are you comfortable with that?

14:27 [Q] No, I like it to match the one unit one.

14:30 [D] So what I've been told is that nuclear plants, you want it to be boring.

14:37 [Q] Yeah, absolutely.

14:38 Absolutely.

14:39 Hot, straight, normal, 100% power.

14:40 Just sit there.

14:41 [D] Really?

14:42 So steady-state.

14:43 [Q] Yeah.

14:43 [D] So how long does it take to bring a plant down for an outage,

14:46 and then versus how long does it take to bring it back up?

14:49 [Q] So the way we do it for refueling outages, it takes about 12 hours.

14:54 We start around 9: 00 in the morning,

14:57 derating in steps, and then we can go in a various...

15:01 We're a BWR, which is boiling water reactor,

15:04 which means we have contaminated systems throughout the whole station.

15:09 There's areas that we can't access at 100%

15:12 power that we can access at 40% power.

15:15 We'll go in at 40%.

15:17 We'll come down from...

15:19 This last time we were coasting,

15:21 we were down around 80% power because our fuel was running out.

15:24 We were coasting down from 100 down to 80.

15:27 Then we started our outage, so we came down around 40 power,

15:32 took heaters out of service, did some inspections, looking for leaks,

15:36 looking for stuff we would need to fix during the outage

15:38 so that we had the right scope for the outage.

15:40 [D] You start ramping down.

15:42 You take an assessment because you can go more places.

15:45 [Q] That's right.

15:45 [D] Then at that time, you start planning for the outage.

15:48 Do you keep it at 40%?

15:50 [Q] No.

15:50 We come down to around 20% and then insert what we call a manual scram.

15:55 [D] What does that mean?

15:56 [Q] There's two big red buttons in the control room.

15:58 You can see those.

15:59 Operator pushes those and all the rods go in.

16:03 Bwr, they come in from the bottom.

16:06 It immediately shuts down the reactor.

16:08 [D] Okay, so what is a BWR?

16:11 [Q] A boiling water reactor means it's

16:13 designed to have boiling inside the reactor vessel.

16:17 Pressurized water reactors don't have mass boiling in their reactors.

16:22 They have nucleate boiling,

16:23 which means tiny little bubbles form on the surface of the fuel and then

16:28 immediately collapse because pressure is so

16:30 high that it doesn't turn to boiling.

16:33 We essentially are at saturation conditions inside the vessel.

16:39 We run around a thousand pounds, a thousand PSIg, which equates to what?

16:45 About 500 -[B] About 570 degrees.

16:47 Seventy degrees.

16:48 [D] Even though it's called a boiling water reactor

16:50 and the other one's called a pressurized water reactor,

16:53 you're still boiling under pressure here.

16:55 [Q] Yeah.

16:56 But we're designed to have mass boiling.

16:59 We have a huge pocket of steam inside the pressure vessel, which PWRs don't.

17:05 [D] Okay.

17:05 Like the old locomotives, the steam locomotives,

17:07 they had a big reservoir on top of steam.

17:10 [Q] Yeah, right.

17:11 That's right.

17:11 [D] What temperature will that steam be?

17:13 570, you said?

17:14 [Q] Yeah, about 570.

17:16 [B] The moderate temperature is about 570.

17:17 Yes, that's right.

17:18 [D] So these are literally the steam tables.

17:19 [Q] Yeah.

17:22 Let's see.

17:23 Saturated steam.

17:26 [D] Because every nuclear plant is just a steam plant, right?

17:30 [Q] Correct.

17:31 Ultimately, you're creating steam to drive a turbine.

17:33 So about 550.

17:35 [D] So you went to PSI, pounds per square inch.

17:42 You went down to 1,000, right?

17:44 [Q] Right.

17:46 [D] That's where this BWR operates.

17:48 Then the temperature that water boils is in this area.

17:52 [Q] About 550.

17:53 [D] About 550.

17:54 It's just physics.

17:56 We're going to see unit 2 open, which makes sense because we're in an outage.

18:03 [Q] It's flooded up, too.

18:04 You'll be able to see.

18:05 As a part of refueling, we take those concrete blocks off,

18:10 we take the drywell head off,

18:11 we take the reactor pressure vessel head off and put them on stands,

18:14 and then we flood it up, flood the water level up equal to the spent fuel pool,

18:19 and then we remove some shield blocks,

18:22 and then we just lift the fuel up, move it over and put it down.

18:26 So it's one big pool.

18:27 [D] Thanks, Quinn.

18:28 [Q] Thank you.

18:28 [D] What's this?

18:29 [B] We got some hard hats for you.

18:30 Some safety equipment for when you get out in the plant.

18:33 Great.

18:33 [G] Oh, we get a lanyard.

18:38 [D] Bill's making me do more training.

18:40 What am I doing?

18:40 [B] You're doing some form material training.

18:42 So one of the things with the core, it's open, right?

18:45 So we You want to make sure that there's nothing

18:47 that could potentially drop off you and fall onto the core.

18:50 We have methods of retrieval, obviously,

18:52 and if something happened, we'd be okay.

18:55 But what I want to make sure is that you understand the rules

18:58 and regulations associated with going over the core

19:00 and As far as foreign material goes, we don't want to drop something.

19:03 [D] I don't drop something.

19:04 I'm taking training, so I don't drop camera pieces or anything in the core.

19:08 [B] That's right.

19:08 [D] I guess the point is, I'm not just going over an open nuclear reactor.

19:12 This is a coordinated event,

19:14 and we're going to have to be careful about how I hold things, right?

19:18 [B] Yeah, absolutely.

19:18 [D] Okay, cool.

19:19 Thank you.

19:20 Okay, time to dress out.

19:26 I don't feel naked, but I feel less clothed.

19:32 [P] Well, you are.

19:34 [D] Okay, cool.

19:35 Where are we going exactly?

19:36 We're going over the fuel?

19:38 [B] Yeah, we're going to go on the refuel floor bridge.

19:40 [D] What is this?

19:41 Can we look at this?

19:43 [B] Yeah, actually, that's a really good picture right there.

19:45 What they're doing is this is a picture of our core uncovered right here.

19:49 [D] That's where we're going?

19:51 [B] Yeah, there's a bridge that's sitting over there,

19:53 and there's almost near about 100 feet of water that's over all that fuel.

19:58 We're going to ride a bridge, a crane,

20:00 essentially, that goes over there and moves the fuel.

20:02 [D] Is that what is happening here?

20:04 I'm seeing a camera.

20:05 Is this on the crane that's moving?

20:07 [B] Yeah, that's on the mast on the crane.

20:08 That's all the way down.

20:10 Right now, there's another portion that you're not seeing.

20:11 The spent fuel pool.

20:12 That's where they're at right now.

20:13 But there's a mast that goes all the way down into the core,

20:16 and it'll latch onto the fuel, and we'll move the fuel.

20:19 [D] This blue that I'm seeing, is that Cherenkov radiation or is that lighting?

20:24 [B] Well, that's probably lighting over there.

20:27 You'll see this, some Cherenkov.

20:29 When we moved, when we pick up On the bundle here, you'll probably see it,

20:32 but there is a blue glow that'll be around the fuel itself.

20:37 [D] Is this a crane operator actually grabbing things?

20:40 [B] That's right.

20:41 You'll see it when we go over the next bundle, but there's an open claw,

20:45 and then the camera is in the open claw,

20:48 and then it'll sit down on the bundle, and it'll latch onto the bundle.

20:51 [D] Really?

20:52 Okay, cool.

20:53 All these are different fuel.

20:54 Man, it's crazy.

20:55 It's just like the claw game, almost.

20:58 They're just putting things in the little slots.

21:00 [B] Yeah, they've all got specific places where they're supposed to go.

21:04 We keep very close track of where everything's at.

21:07 There's a lot of, I guess I'll say, poisons, especially in the spent fuel pool,

21:12 where we make sure that we can put the fuel,

21:15 and the fuel in the stays subcritical at all times.

21:17 [D] This is the reactor?

21:21 [B] This is the reactor.

21:22 [D] Then this is the spent fuel pool.

21:23 [B] Well, the crane is going over to the reactor at this point in time.

21:27 It was in the spent fuel pool.

21:29 Now you'll see it come over the reactor here.

21:31 [D] Whoa, that was a cool reveal.

21:33 That was pretty neat.

21:35 So this is what the reactor looks like?

21:37 [B] Yeah.

21:38 [D] Okay, so I guess this is a question I have.

21:40 So we've got cameras.

21:43 Phillip, you were saying don't use like a non-cotton fabric.

21:48 You're saying that's bad, right?

21:50 [P] Not necessarily bad.

21:52 Synthetic fibers tend to have more static electricity,

21:55 and the static is what radon gets, it will adhere to it.

22:00 When the radon attaches to it,

22:01 [D] I'm not going to be able to get this out because the RP won't let me.

22:05 [P] Right.

22:06 It'll set off the radiation detectors.

22:08 Then you can, most of the time, you can just let it sit for a little while

22:13 and it will decay and you can get it out.

22:16 It might be the next day, but- [B] That radon is all naturally occurring.

22:20 [D] That's not from the plant.

22:21 [B] That's not us.

22:23 [D] The RP personnel that I learned about in the safety training,

22:27 the people that have to scan you so that you can come out,

22:29 they have to make sure that you're clean.

22:32 A lot of times, radon is the stuff that gets on your bag,

22:35 and that'll set off their detectors and you can't get it out.

22:37 [P] Yeah.

22:38 [B] Right.

22:38 [D] Okay.

22:38 [P] Same thing with your clothes.

22:40 If you wear synthetic fibers, polyester, or nylon,

22:44 stuff like that, it does the same thing.

22:47 [D] Got it.

22:48 [B] You're about to pull a fuel bundle out of the core,

22:49 and I think you'll actually see this rank off effect here when it comes out.

22:52 [D] Really?

22:56 He's trying to grab it first?

22:57 [B] Yeah.

22:59 Actually, what they're doing is they're on the bundle,

23:02 and they've each got unique identifiers, serial numbers.

23:05 You can see it right here.

23:06 They're going to verify that they're on the right bundle.

23:09 Then once now he's sitting on it, and then he'll latch onto it,

23:12 and then he'll make sure that he's got a good hold of it,

23:14 and then he'll bring it up.

23:15 [D] This is what you used to do, isn't it?

23:17 [B] I did this for a little while, yeah.

23:18 [D] What do you call this person?

23:20 [B] I was the reactivity manager over the fuel handler.

23:23 [D] Fuel handler.

23:24 Okay, cool.

23:25 So he's securing?

23:26 [B ]Yeah.

23:29 [D] Is there some video we can get of this?

23:32 [B] Absolutely.

23:32 [D] Are they recording this?

23:33 [B] They are.

23:36 [D] So now he's flying the bundle, or she, whoever it is.

23:41 [B] There's just a Cherenkov effect right there.

23:43 [D] Oh, yeah.

23:47 How far above the pool will we be?

23:49 [B] See, really well in the hole right there, which is vacated.

23:52 We're about to head to the plant.

23:54 We're going to swing by RP.

23:55 They're going to give us a RWP, a Radiation Worker Permit.

23:59 We're going to sign in to go into the plant.

24:01 We're going to understand our dose limits and all that type of stuff.

24:04 Then when we get up, I'll take it up to the floor,

24:06 and then when we get up to the floor,

24:07 you and I are going to change the jobs that we're

24:09 doing because we're going to go out on the bridge.

24:10 You and I will have another RWP we'll log on to.

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26:11 a bunch of training about foreign material dropping into the pool,

26:14 and so I'm hyper aware of that right now.

26:17 [B] It's the one thing we do.

26:18 I mean, it's taking weeks to get you in here.

26:20 The only thing we've done is really just train you for a week,

26:22 pretty much, before we got in here, right?

26:24 [D] Yeah, absolutely.

26:25 [B] We want to make sure you're prepared.

26:26 Yes and yes.

26:27 All right, buddy.

26:29 Hey, what's going on?

26:32 [B] That's an interesting fellow right there.

26:35 [D] Yeah?

26:36 [B] He's our valve guy.

26:38 [D] A valve guy?

26:39 [B] Yeah.

26:40 [D] You have a whole guy just for valves?

26:41 [B] Yeah, we have a couple of guys just for valves,

26:44 but he's our lead guy for valves.

26:46 Sitting there and he's going...

26:47 We've only got one right now.

26:49 I'm like, Well, that's a little different than the ten.

26:51 [D] Can I see your tattoo real quick?

26:53 Yeah.

26:53 That's awesome.

26:55 That's cool.

26:56 Thanks.

26:58 Pretty good.

26:59 I think this is RP?

27:03 This is RP.

27:03 [B] Yeah, this is our briefing station before we head out

27:06 in the plant to make sure we understand what RWPs we're getting off.

27:08 [D] That's good.

27:09 When you go to log in, It's going to ask

27:12 you to scan the front of your dosimeter first,

27:15 scan that barcode, and you're going to scan.

27:17 It's going to say, Bet scan the back.

27:19 It'll be that barcode.

27:20 It's going to ask you for a work order number.

27:23 Type this number right here, that's 125, 129, 292.

27:29 then it's going to give you a drop-down box.

27:31 Hit the little arrow, and that's going to be the only number that's available.

27:34 It ends in that 121, okay?

27:36 [D] Yes, sir.

27:37 That's going to be you all's RWP.

27:38 It's going to get you all up to the refuel floor,

27:40 traveling through Unit 1, Bill will take you all in the office.

27:43 You can check in up there.

27:44 Now, when you get up there,

27:45 make sure you let them know your set points for your RWP is

27:48 5 millilre rim dose alarm and 40 millilre rim per hour dose rate alarm.

27:52 That's fairly low to be going on the refuel floor.

27:55 That would determine where they're going to allow you to go or if

27:57 they want you all to be on a different RWP with higher set points.

28:01 Okay?

28:02 [G] Five and 40?

28:03 Five and 40.

28:04 All good?

28:04 Just make sure that the technicians that you talk to up there know that.

28:07 [B] Yeah, I will.

28:12 All right.

28:12 Let's get you one of these.

28:15 [D] We can grab any of them.

28:17 [B] Well, we want a smaller one.

28:18 We don't want a screamer.

28:21 [D] A screamer meaning a loud one?

28:23 [B] Yeah.

28:23 If you're in a high noise area.

28:26 Okay, so we're going to go to a white trip ticket area.

28:30 White.

28:30 Anyone that says white is fine.

28:32 Put your dosimeter in there first.

28:36 There you go.

28:38 Yeah.

28:40 Then it's going to ask you to scan the back.

28:44 Now, this is where you pull up your view of your RWP.

28:47 Click RWP.

28:51 This is what we talked about earlier in the training, right?

28:54 [D] Mm-hmm.

28:56 So every worker does this.....

28:58 [Beeping in background] [B] You are granted access to the RCA.

29:05 [D] That's a pretty big deal.

29:06 [B] And then you're going to put that right next to your DLR.

29:09 [D] Sounds great.

29:10 Here we go.

29:11 I'm about to go in.

29:12 So you've been saying for years you didn't ever think this would happen.

29:15 [P] No, I really didn't think Bill would pull this off.

29:18 [Everyone laughing like little kids] [D] So we're actually about to do it,

29:22 which is a pretty big deal.

29:24 Bill, are you proud that you pulled it off?

29:26 [B] Let's not give me all the credit because if this goes awry,

29:28 I don't want to be the one that goes down, man.

29:30 [D] [Laughing] [D] But it's a pretty big deal to be

29:33 able to take a camera into a place like this.

29:35 [B] It is a huge deal.

29:35 [Guy walking by]: Philip!

29:36 That's what I'm talking about baby!

29:38 Get in there!

29:38 [B] It's exciting.

29:39 [Everyone is laughing at dude walking by] [B] Is that Kevin?

29:42 [P] Yeah Alright, so...

29:44 Here's what we're going to do.

29:45 We're going to go in the RCA.

29:47 You're going to put your dad on here.

29:49 Phil will go in last.

29:50 Just make sure you're all good.

29:51 You get the green light and we'll go in.

29:54 Okay.

29:54 Now you got your hard hat.

29:56 [D] Yes, sir.

29:57 [B] If glasses, ear protection, DOR, and your dad, right?

30:01 [D] Yes, sir.

30:01 [B] Good to go.

30:03 [D] Great.

30:07 Currently, I have zero millirem.

30:10 [B] Remember, we're going in an industrial environment,

30:11 so it can get a little loud, okay?

30:13 [D] Yes, sir.

30:14 [B] All right.

30:14 You all ready?

30:16 Let's go.

30:22 [D] So we're in the RCA now?

30:30 [B] We are actively in the RCA.

30:31 That's correct.

30:33 [D] It's very clean.

30:35 [B] It is.

30:41 Video.

31:06 [B] Okay, so what I'm about to take

31:08 you into is the secondary containment area, right?

31:10 You'll notice that there's some locked

31:11 doors and everything like water tight doors.

31:13 We do this intentionally because this is

31:15 our absolute last means if something bad happened, that's where we keep it all.

31:19 We keep this area at a negative pressure just to make sure we

31:22 keep all the containment products inside secondary

31:24 containment if something were to have happened.

31:26 That's why you see the doors like that.

31:28 [D] That's an air and a water door.

31:31 [B] A flow tight.

31:32 Yeah, it's not really an air door.

31:33 It's mostly a water door.

31:34 [D] Okay, I see.

31:36 Do we have to badge in to go?

31:38 [B] Yeah, we're going to have to badge in.

31:39 So I'm first in.

31:50 We're going to walk up to the elevator through

31:52 the operating spaces because there's less traffic over this.

31:55 [P] Before we go any farther,

31:57 when you see the floor drains, don't step on those.

32:00 They're a lot of times contaminated.

32:02 [D] Okay.

32:03 So be looking for floor drains.

32:17 [B] We have 185 control rods.

32:19 It's 185 of these accumulators,

32:21 which will assist the control rod to enter the vessel in the event of a scram.

32:26 [D] Got it.

32:28 So they're individual pressure tanks with check valves to maintain pressure?

32:31 [B] Effectively, yes.

32:32 [D] Okay.

32:35 So it's contaminated just because water has gone down into it?

32:38 [B] At some point in time.

32:39 The surface is most likely not from where we're at, but inside those drains,

32:44 there may be some contamination.

32:46 We don't know.

32:47 And getting into the drains and free-releasing it is very difficult.

32:50 So we just say, Stay out of it.

32:52 [D] Don't touch it.

32:53 Got it.

32:54 I'm getting no dose.

33:02 [B] We're going to go up to the fourth elevation.

33:04 We'll pick up our C zone close that I suspect they're going

33:07 to ask us for, and then we'll head up to the refuel for it.

33:09 [B] Okay.

33:12 [D] What RP you on?

33:13 Or how do you say?

33:14 RWP?

33:15 RWP.

33:15 I'm on 252-00022.

33:20 [D] Is that how I would say that to you?

33:21 What RWP you on?

33:22 Yeah, that's typically how it goes.

33:24 [D] It's more like how long till lunch.

33:26 That's what we normally talk about.

33:27 Something like that.

33:30 [D] This is a big motor.

33:37 [B] Yeah, they're abandoned in place at this point in time.

33:40 That's how we used to control the speed

33:41 of the research before we had static control.

33:44 So we moved over to the research drive.

33:45 But these are some big old motor generator.

33:47 [D] It's easier just to leave them there.

33:48 [B] Yeah.

33:50 [D] Abandoned in place.

33:54 Interesting.

33:55 So we're going to dress out here?

33:57 [B] No, we'll take our stuff up to the refill floor and get briefed up there,

34:01 but we're going to grab our booties and everything here.

34:04 [D] Okay.

34:04 Are you getting one for each of us?

34:06 [B] I can, yeah.

34:10 [D] I'm scared to touch anything.

34:12 [B] That's good.

34:13 Stay that way.

34:13 [D] Stay that way?

34:14 [B] No.

34:15 I have no clear plastic.

34:17 Do you have any clear plastic?

34:18 [D] I have no clear plastic.

34:19 Thank you.

34:20 [D] Thank you.

34:24 [B] Your license?

34:29 I do that.

34:30 [D] How are you all doing?

34:31 Good.

34:32 How are you?

34:32 So you're the RP?

34:34 Yes, sir.

34:35 [D] If there's one thing I learned in that training is to say Mother,

34:37 may I to you before I do anything.

34:41 I don't really.

34:42 That's what he is going to love these guys.

34:45 Yeah.

34:46 We've been briefing him up.

34:50 This will be my test for him.

34:53 What do you think they're going to do to me?

34:55 You're going to get the We're trying to get all that stuff out of the way.

34:59 You think so?

35:00 Yeah.

35:00 Trying to get that on the bridge?

35:02 Yeah.

35:02 Got to see the cameras.

35:04 Good luck.

35:05 A lot of straps.

35:07 A lot of straps.

35:09 Yeah.

35:09 What's your name?

35:10 [T] Trenton.

35:10 [D] Trenton.

35:11 I'm Destin.

35:11 Nice to meet you.

35:12 I didn't like that handshake.

35:13 Let's do it again.

35:14 That's a better one.

35:15 How long you been here?

35:16 In terms of years.

35:17 Yeah, nuclear.

35:18 [T] 2011.

35:19 [D] Really?

35:20 [B] Just me and Destin will be...

35:23 Yeah, we're going to take the other guys up to the Crow's Nest,

35:26 and Destin and I we'll be out on the bridge.

35:29 [D] So you're RP?

35:30 That's right.

35:31 I'm going to get you ID.

35:33 18504.

35:35 [D] Always be nice to people on the elevator.

35:37 They might be your RP later.

35:38 Now I got to ask you what your RP means.

35:41 [D] My RWP is- Don't start stuttering now.

35:44 [D] 121?

35:46 Is that it?

35:47 That's my work order.

35:50 It's 125 129 292.

35:52 [B] That's your work order.

35:54 You're right.

35:54 Your RWP is 121.

35:55 [D] Yeah, 121 is my work order.

35:58 [B] Your RWP.

35:58 [D] RWP.

35:59 Da gummit.

35:59 What's your ID number on that?

36:01 [D] My ID number is 37467.

36:07 So you're being on 25.

36:08 Like I said, you're being on 25, 200, Dose alarm is 60 millirem,

36:15 the dose rate alarm is 250 millirem per hour.

36:18 All right, this is what our RWP looks like when you go to look at it.

36:22 Got your description.

36:23 This is for refuel floor activities.

36:26 It's for high radiological risk,

36:27 so this will gain you entry into higher radiation areas,

36:30 even though we don't have one post where you all will be at.

36:36 But just in case moving things around the water,

36:40 high radiological risk is a possibility,

36:43 which is why your dose long thing is 60 millirem around.

36:47 So the area where you'll be at on the bridge.

36:51 If you look over there.

36:52 The orange part?

36:54 Yes.

36:55 If you look at this top right Here.

36:58 I'm going to go wait a bit.

37:00 This is the bridge.

37:03 See all these people on here?

37:04 [D] Yes, sir.

37:05 That's where ya'll be at.

37:08 [D] Yes, sir.

37:10 Dose rates up there are about one to two millirem an hour.

37:16 So that's where we come to our dose rate alarm.

37:18 Your dose rate alarm is set to 250 millirem an hour.

37:22 On the bridge, you shouldn't get close to that at all.

37:25 [D] Because of the water.

37:26 Because of the water.

37:27 Water's your shield, waters your mediator.

37:30 We got stop work criteria.

37:34 In the event of a dose alarm, our unanticipated dose rate alarm will notify RP.

37:41 That's a microphone.

37:42 Oh.

37:43 I was just having a hard time hearing it.

37:45 Oh, there we go.

37:46 Yeah, stop work criteria.

37:49 In the event of a dose or a dose rate alarm, immediately notify RP.

37:55 Stop work will leave the area.

37:58 We have air monitors on the north side.

38:02 So if you hear those go off, and you'll hear them go off,

38:06 that means everyone in the C zone or on the floor

38:09 will evacuate and will help that transition We'll leave the floor entirely.

38:15 [D] Will RP be on the Bridge?

38:17 We will have RP in the zone, and they will be covering the Bridge.

38:21 We have telemetry, so we can constantly monitor the dose rates in the area.

38:33 So right here, you see these little dose rates?

38:37 [D] Yes, sir.

38:38 So that's for inside the 360 platform and that's for on the Bridge.

38:45 So if you look back to our screen over here,

38:49 you'll notice on the left camera, there's a 360 platform here.

38:55 So we have RDS 31s monitoring the dose

39:00 where the workers are actively working in the 360.

39:05 So this just helps us see the progression of dose rates in the area from afar.

39:13 That way we can let anyone know what's going on.

39:17 [D] So you've got instrumentation right there,

39:19 and we're going to be on the bridge right there where they are, correct?

39:23 [RP] Correct.

39:24 [D] And then so you're monitoring it in real-time,

39:27 and because the RWP is active, you know that we're out there.

39:30 [RP] That's correct.

39:31 [D] Okay.

39:32 [RP] Yeah.

39:32 So everyone's covered all the way around, both ways and backwards.

39:36 [D] Sounds good.

39:37 Right now, I'm at 0.

39:39 1 millirem an hour, which is nothing.

39:42 [RP] right.

39:42 Now you're about to sign off out here and sign on to...

39:47 Because you probably come up on what?

39:48 71?

39:49 [B] It came up on 121.

39:51 [RP] 121.

39:52 We're going to sign on to 252-000-92.

39:55 [D] Yes, sir.

39:57 Then my rate alarm will go up.

40:00 [RP] Right.

40:01 So your set points will change.

40:02 You'll go to a dose alarm of 60 millirem

40:05 and a dose rate alarm of 250 millilrem an hour.

40:07 [D] Cool.

40:08 Thank you.

40:09 I appreciate.

40:09 What was your name?

40:10 [RP] Christian.

40:10 [D] Nice to meet you, Christian.

40:11 [C] Nice to meet you.

40:12 Yeah.

40:12 All right.

40:13 Now, as you stop back by this window, we got a full brief on it.

40:18 We do a reverse briefing.

40:19 Yes, sir.

40:21 The dose alarm and dose rate alarm,

40:23 we usually typically what we do is say, Hey, what's your dose alarm?

40:29 You repeat back to me what the dose alarm is.

40:32 Which would be 250.

40:34 Then I ask you, What's your dose rate alarm?

40:36 [D] Sixty.

40:37 You say 250.

40:39 It's 250 millirem per hour?

40:40 250 millirem per hour.

40:41 Yes, that's Dose rate.

40:42 [D] What's my limit dose?

40:43 Is it 60?

40:44 It was 60, so I said that backwards.

40:46 [D] Okay.

40:47 Yes.

40:47 The dose rate alarm is 250, and the dose limit is 60.

40:53 Yes, sir.

40:53 Millirem.

40:54 [D] Millirem.

40:54 Once a millirem, and once a millirem per hour.

40:57 [D] Yes, sir.

40:57 So the dress out is going to be a full dress

41:01 out with the single dress out with the hood on the bridge.

41:07 That's to protect you because you're going to go into a contaminated area.

41:11 The contamination levels in the area on the bridge is less than 1,000 DPM,

41:15 per cm square, up to 2,000 DPM, per cm, going to sell this.

41:21 Low-level contamination, minimal dressout.

41:25 We have several different This is the same dress out,

41:27 so this would be the minimal dress-out.

41:29 [D] We're not going to be quite to the level he is,

41:30 or is it going to be the level he is?

41:32 This is the same dress-out as.

41:34 [B] You want a hood and a skullcap?

41:36 Yes.

41:36 [B] Okay.

41:37 We'll have to get a hood.

41:38 Okay.

41:38 Appreciate it, guys.

41:39 Okay.

41:40 My max is 60.

41:42 My rate is 250.

41:43 It's a single.

41:44 Then you do want to send hood and skullcap.

41:46 Right.

41:47 Then it gets a little bit tougher, 80% of 60.

41:50 [D] 80% of 60 is 40.

41:54 Hold on.

41:55 It's 60 minus 12 Which is 48.

41:59 At 48, yeah.

42:00 [D] At 48 is when I need to start looking for the door.

42:02 Right.

42:03 Okay.

42:03 That'll be the time you have to be back away.

42:06 [D] Yes, sir.

42:06 Other than that, Christian brief you on the dose rates on the bridge.

42:15 Now you have the information for the contamination levels on the bridge.

42:19 You did a reverse briefing.

42:22 Is there any questions or concerns?

42:25 [D] I have a question for you guys.

42:27 What do you guys think I'm going to get dose-wise while I'm in there?

42:30 You're around about 0.

42:32 5 millirem per hour.

42:33 0.

42:34 [D] 0.5?

42:35 What do you think my total is going to be?

42:36 It's going to be based on time.

42:37 It's going to be 0.

42:38 5 millirem per hour.

42:39 You're going to be in there an hour.

42:40 Okay.

42:41 Okay.

42:42 Cool.

42:42 Thank you.

42:43 Appreciate it.

42:44 All right.

42:45 You're welcome.

42:45 [B] You're not going to be in there an hour.

42:47 [D] Mr.

42:48 Somers, right?

42:49 [S] Yes, sir.

42:51 Yeah.

42:51 Thank you, Mr.

42:52 Somers.

42:52 Appreciate it.

42:53 Thanks, Christian.

42:53 What was your name?

42:54 Jonah.

42:54 Jonah?

42:55 Nice to meet you guys.

42:56 All right.

42:57 Sorry.

42:59 [B] All right.

42:59 Welcome to the refill floor.

43:00 Hey, what's up?

43:01 [D] We're on the refill floor now?

43:03 [B] We're on the refill floor.

43:04 [D] Okay.

43:04 [B] We'll go ahead and take you up for the crows nest.

43:06 This is probably the best place to be.

43:08 [J] What are you carrying in?

43:10 [B] Are you going into foreign material?

43:11 [J] Yes, that's what I was trying to figure out how to go about it.

43:15 [D] Would you like this on my head?

43:18 I met Jeffrey from FME, or Foreign Materials Exclusion.

43:22 I didn't really understand what he was doing at the time,

43:25 but he was starting a process that was happening in the background.

43:28 He looked at all the cameras that I wanted to take out over the reactor,

43:32 and he started working a solution for how to attach them to me.

43:36 [B] Why don't we come up here?

43:49 [D] We're in a really interesting place, but everybody's all business.

44:01 [B] All right, so this is our refuel floor.

44:03 You got three units up here.

44:05 You can see all three units spent fuel pools.

44:07 You can see all the bridges and everything like that.

44:09 We're currently in refueling operations on unit two right now.

44:13 They're right over the fuel pool and they're moving either blade

44:17 guides or fuel over to the reactor at this point in time.

44:19 They're actually in the process of shuffling their fuel.

44:22 [D] Okay, so I didn't realize when I heard nuclear reactor units one,

44:27 two, three, I didn't realize it was all under one roof.

44:34 [B] Oh, yeah.

44:34 [D] I didn't know that.

44:35 [B] Yeah.

44:36 It's a big building.

44:39 [D] So that's a reactor.

44:40 [B] That's right.

44:42 [D] That's That's a fuel pool.

44:43 [B] That's right.

44:44 [D] That's a fuel pool.

44:45 [B] That's right.

44:46 [D] That's a reactor.

44:47 And then what do I have going the other way?

44:48 Oh, the square first.

44:49 [B] The fuel pool and the reactor.

44:50 [D] It looks...

44:50 The fuel pool and the reactor.

44:51 [B] Three, two, and three look identical to each other.

44:52 [D] Why are these fuel pools next to each other?

44:55 [B] So they were made originally when it was constructed.

44:57 They just constructed Unit One and Two as mirror objects of each other.

45:00 Then at some point in time during initial construction, they said,

45:04 We want to add a third Unit Two, and then just mirrored Unit Two again.

45:07 It was just from an original design.

45:09 [D] I see.

45:10 Interesting.

45:10 This was made when?

45:12 [B] Back in the mid '60s.

45:14 [D] Mid '60s.

45:15 That's amazing.

45:16 I can see into the pool.

45:18 I can see the tops of...

45:21 I need to flip my camera to a tighter camera, I think.

45:23 Let me do that.

45:24 There's a nuclear reactor around that ring.

45:27 It's in the center of that.

45:29 That's unit one?

45:30 [B] That's Unit 1, correct.

45:31 [D] Here's the fuel pool for Unit 2.

45:36 Now, is this spent fuel?

45:37 [B] The square is the spent fuel, that's correct.

45:40 [D] Okay, and then the reactor is right there.

45:44 Right now, are we taking fuel out of the reactor or are we putting it in?

45:48 [B] It's a little bit of a combination of both.

45:51 We have 764 bundles in the core, and we only get about 350 new

45:56 bundles every refueling average every couple of years.

45:59 We actually reuse the fuel for about six years.

46:03 They call it a shuffle.

46:04 You may be moving a once burnt fuel is what we call it,

46:06 one cycle, moving it to a different location in the core.

46:08 [D] Got it.

46:09 [B] Right now, the main priority for fuel shuffle

46:12 one is to move the fuel in an appropriate

46:14 location so that we can access the parts

46:16 of the core that we want to do maintenance on.

46:18 [D] That makes sense.

46:20 Can you walk me through?

46:21 I see a lot of people in this room.

46:23 I see a lot of people doing different things.

46:26 This looks like there's a lot of equipment

46:28 over here that's not being used at the moment.

46:31 Is this a monitoring station?

46:33 [B] Yes.

46:33 [D] Okay, so it's monitoring radiation.

46:37 I don't see any people here.

46:41 I see these people here.

46:42 They look like they're getting ready to do something.

46:44 [B] Yeah, so you got a bunch of groups that are working here.

46:46 You've got some, I'll say,

46:48 work management individuals down here from different groups.

46:50 [D] That's what these people are doing?

46:51 [B] These guys are helping track the fuel moves that they're

46:54 on, making sure that they're on the right bundles, etc.

46:57 They're also tracking the work that's going on on the refuel floor,

46:59 reporting to our outage control center.

47:01 [D] That's why people are coming in and signing in with her.

47:04 [B] That's right.

47:04 They're just tracking the work of what's going on.

47:06 That's really what they're doing.

47:07 You got a bunch of boiler makers out there

47:10 that their job is to essentially remove or disassemble the vessel.

47:14 [D] Is that who you're seeing here?

47:16 [B] There's a couple of boiler makers down there.

47:18 There's a bunch of miscellaneous stuff.

47:20 If anything that requires any crane movement

47:22 or anything like that outside of the bridge, you got boiler makers involved.

47:25 You got floor material,

47:27 individuals out there that are tracking what form of material is going where.

47:31 [D] Okay, and then up on the bridge, they're over the reactor now.

47:34 I'm seeing some people right at the edge of the reactor.

47:37 [B] Yeah, those guys are actually part of our in-vessel inspection team.

47:41 And what they is they go and they have cameras that they put in the core.

47:45 Look at our nozzles, look at our welds,

47:47 look at all that stuff to make sure that there's no wear,

47:52 essentially, and that the life of the core is maintained.

47:57 [D] Got it.

47:58 That's an individual on the on the bridge right there.

48:01 Is that the individual getting the fuel rods?

48:03 [B] That would be the fuel handler himself, yes.

48:05 [D] Okay.

48:06 Then there's support people beside the fuel handler.

48:08 [B] You've always got a fuel handler.

48:10 He's got a peer check that's with him.

48:12 Then you have a licensed senior reactor operator

48:14 to authorize the fuel moves that are occurring.

48:16 [D] Wow.

48:17 Is there a physicist somewhere?

48:19 Is there a really smart nuclear physicist around the room somewhere?

48:24 [B] Well, there are nukes that are

48:26 watching all this, but they're in another room.

48:28 [D] That's what they're called, nukes?

48:28 [B] Yeah, we call them nukes.

48:29 [D] Okay.

48:29 [B] The reactor engineers, and they're in another room outside of here.

48:32 They just stay and limit their dose that they're receiving, right?

48:35 [D] I see.

48:36 [B] I could take you to them later,

48:38 but they're in another room over there and they're watching all of this.

48:41 They have worked with our corporate fuels guys to figure

48:43 out what the appropriate way to shuffle the core is.

48:46 [D] Got you.

48:47 Okay.

48:47 And so these people over here, if you look at my camera screen,

48:51 those people just went into the C zone.

48:53 You call it the C zone.

48:54 That means contaminated?

48:55 [B] Yeah, contamination zone.

48:56 That's correct.

48:57 [D] Okay.

48:57 So somebody's coming out.

48:59 So he's about to come down and derobe.

49:03 What do you call the act of taking off your...

49:06 Someone handed him something.

49:08 [B] Yeah, well, we had to get something into the C zone area,

49:11 so he passes what's in.

49:13 And once it goes in, it's okay, but they can't take it back out.

49:15 [D] Okay, I noticed the bridge just moved.

49:18 And what is happening now?

49:21 So is he...

49:23 He's above the reactor itself.

49:24 [B] Yeah, it looks like he's going down to get

49:26 a fuel bundle at this point in time in the pour.

49:34 He probably has one latched on.

49:36 He's coming right now through the cattle shoot.

49:38 [D] Oh, he can go straight through.

49:40 [B] Yep.

49:41 [D] You call that the cattle shoot?

49:42 [B] Yeah, it's just a generic term that we utilize.

49:46 [D] It's a gate?

49:46 [B] It's a gate that we can come through.

49:48 He'll have the fuel at the end of that crane,

49:50 and then he'll put it in the appropriate location to spend fuel pool.

49:56 [D] What is the coordinate system for where the fuel is located.

49:59 [B] There's a map down here I'm happy to show you.

50:02 [D] Yeah, I'd love to see that in just a second.

50:03 I want to watch what he does here real quick.

50:08 [B] They get over the location that they want to go either

50:10 in the core of the spent fuel pool The bridge will automate

50:13 to where it's supposed to be at, and then he'll call out

50:16 the core location or the spent fuel pool location that they're at.

50:20 Then his peer check will agree with them.

50:22 They'll lower it.

50:23 Before they latch or unlatch,

50:24 the SRO will give their authorization that it's appropriate.

50:27 [D] I actually see the hole he's about to...

50:29 Do they light up the holes where they're going?

50:31 [B] Yeah, there's some lighting down there

50:33 so they can see where they're working.

50:36 [D] I can see what he's trying to align to.

50:45 [B] Here's one of our refueling SRO's leaving right now.

50:48 [D] Should we talk to him?

50:49 [B] Sure.

50:50 [D] Sure.

50:50 [B] Hey, Sarah.

50:53 [D] I just back down that ladder because I saw you back down the ladder.

50:57 [B] That's fine.

50:57 Do you know why he did that?

50:59 [D] No, why?

50:59 This sign right here says, Hey, this is a ship's ladder.

51:04 The incline isn't appropriate for you to walk up it normally,

51:08 so you've got to maintain three points of contact.

51:11 That's He should have seen that you had all this equipment on you,

51:15 and he should have said, Hey, Austin.

51:17 Can you just say Austin?

51:19 Destin.

51:19 Destin.

51:20 I'm so sorry.

51:20 He should have said, Hey, Destin,

51:22 make sure you secure your equipment and maintain your points.

51:25 for safety.

51:26 [D] I'm What's your name?

51:27 [S] Hi, I'm Sarah.

51:28 [D] I'm Destin.

51:29 [S] Nice to meet you.

51:30 [D] Sarah, I'm torn right now because,

51:32 A, I want to appreciate you for doing that, but also

51:36 I can tell that you're talking smack to Bill.

51:39 [S] No, not well.

51:41 [B] Coach Coaching's coaching.

51:42 That's how we take it.

51:43 [D] It's coaching.

51:44 Okay.

51:44 [S] No, it's up and down.

51:46 Like 100%, this is normal.

51:48 [D] Got it.

51:50 [S] Is this your first time in a nuclear power plant?

51:53 [D] Yes, ma'am.

51:54 One second I'm gonna turn this off Sarah, what's your role at the plant here?

51:57 [S] I'm a Senior Nuclear Reactor Operator, and I'm a fuel handling supervisor.

52:02 I just came off of Unit 2's Refuel Bridge,

52:05 and we're in the process of refueling Unit 2.

52:09 We're in the process of 202 fuel moves in fuel shuffle number one.

52:15 I'm providing direct oversight of the fuel handlers.

52:20 So there's two people here where the mast is,

52:24 and then there's Allison, who's got the red gloves She's my counterpart.

52:28 She's just taking shift.

52:30 She's the fuel handling supervisor providing the oversight of the fuel movers.

52:35 [D] She's in charge?

52:36 [S] That's right.

52:37 They're operating underneath her license in her direction.

52:40 [D] She's a reactor operator?

52:42 [S] She is a senior nuclear reactor operator.

52:44 That's right.

52:45 [D] Forgive me.

52:45 What's the difference in just a normal reactor operator and a senior?

52:48 [S] You have a technical specification responsibility that you

52:55 maintain that the plant is operating within its license.

53:00 [D] Sarah, you had to train to be a reactor operator.

53:03 That's right.

53:04 What's your background?

53:05 [S] I went to Mississippi State.

53:07 I was a biology chemistry major, and I joined the National Guard.

53:11 I deployed to Iraq I came back, and my husband had come to Huntsville,

53:16 so I transferred all my hours to UAH.

53:19 I finished up my degree there.

53:20 [D] In what?

53:22 [S] In biology and chemistry.

53:24 They were not hiring in Huntsville,

53:25 so I decided to work on my PhD in biotechnology.

53:29 And finally, TVA came for a job fair, and they were not looking for engineers.

53:36 They were looking for biology, chemistry majors.

53:38 I hired on here at TVA as a chemist,

53:42 a chem tech and I celebrated 16 years here at Browns Ferry just in February.

53:48 And so I worked for nine years as a chemistry technician.

53:51 I became a supervisor.

53:53 And then three years ago, I went to a transition into Operations,

53:57 which is a two-year training program.

54:00 And I've been a senior nuclear reactor operator for about 18 months.

54:03 [D] That's awesome.

54:05 Congratulations.

54:05 [S] Thank you so much.

54:06 [D] There's a lot there.

54:07 [S] There is.

54:08 Yeah.

54:09 [D] So how long will it take them to do the refueling in total?

54:13 [S] Well, we break it up into small pieces.

54:15 Browns Ferry actually holds the record at one point

54:19 in time for a refueling outage of taking the vessel apart,

54:23 changing out, putting it all back together.

54:25 I think maybe 12 days.

54:26 Bill can correct me.

54:28 We have the record on that.

54:30 However, this refueling outage is scheduled for about 30

54:33 days because when you shut a nuclear reactor down,

54:36 you have to do all this maintenance that you can't do while online.

54:39 Imagine driving your car.

54:41 You can't change tires while driving your car.

54:43 You got to stop it, lift it up, change out the tires.

54:47 So we're doing all that maintenance that we can't do while online.

54:50 [D] Okay, so that one's an outage.

54:53 [S] Yes.

54:54 [D] But this one's operating, right?

54:56 [S] A hundred%.

54:57 [D] It It literally is 100%.

54:58 [S] Literally 100%.

54:59 A nuclear reactor loves being at 100% and just hot,

55:04 fast, and normal all the way.

55:05 [D] So I would have thought that I would be seeing something come out of there,

55:09 but it's got a cap on it, right?

55:11 [S] Well, So this is the spent fuel pool.

55:15 Over here where all that stuff is on top of it are the shield blocks,

55:19 and the reactor is hidden all the way down there inside a drywell,

55:24 and then the reactor head on top of it.

55:28 So this thing right here.

55:29 [D] The big sphere?

55:30 [S] The big dome.

55:32 [D] Okay.

55:32 [S] That is the drywell head for Unit 2.

55:36 And around the corner is the reactor head for Unit 2.

55:40 [D] Got it.

55:40 [S] That would sit inside of it.

55:42 [D] But we're We're not going to see that because that's in the C zone.

55:44 [S] I don't know.

55:45 Bill might be able to take you along this way in the clean area,

55:49 and you might be able to get a view over there.

55:51 [D] Okay, interesting.

55:52 The fact that you're refueling is the one time you get to see the reactors open.

55:57 So this is a very special time that we're here.

56:00 [S] That's right.

56:01 When you are riding this bridge and you're looking down into the vessel,

56:04 it's really, really neat.

56:05 It's just there.

56:09 You guys are here at a great time.

56:11 The water's really still.

56:13 We're not doing a lot of inspections right now,

56:15 so you're going to have great views down into it.

56:17 [D] Really?

56:17 [S] Yes.

56:18 [D] Do you have any recommendations of things I should

56:19 look for if I'm going to get on the bridge?

56:20 [S] Oh, I mean, you're going to look for the blue Cherenkov radiation.

56:24 You're going to watch for You're going to watch for how the people operate.

56:31 So don't just think about the mechanics of it.

56:33 Also think about how you're seeing people operate,

56:35 how we work together as a team to make sure it's safe,

56:39 error-free, making sure communication is crisp and clear.

56:42 [D] So the communication is very clear?

56:44 [S] Always.

56:44 [D] It's like aviation where there's a call and a call back thing?

56:48 [S] We actually have three-way communication.

56:50 You send it, they say it back, and you tell them if it's right or wrong.

56:53 [D] Really?

56:53 [S] That's right.

56:54 [D] Okay, that's awesome.

56:55 And what is the name of the lady that's the senior reactor operator?

56:59 [S] That's Allison Vagoya.

57:00 She and I actually were in class together.

57:02 And her background, she's an engineer.

57:04 She's providing direct oversight of the fuel handlers.

57:07 And so there's...

57:09 Bill's here.

57:10 He's going to tell you everything about it because Bill did

57:13 my job before he changed into being a supervisor of INC.

57:17 So he'll be able to tell you everything.

57:19 He's ridden that bridge.

57:20 He's done this job.

57:21 But Allison is going to be providing oversight

57:23 to make sure that we have no mistakes at all.

57:26 [D] Okay, so, Sarah, I've got a I have a question for you.

57:28 So you've done all this stuff you've done.

57:31 You're a reactor operator.

57:32 [S] That's right.

57:34 [D] You've moved fuel rods.

57:36 Are you comfortable with a nuclear reactor

57:38 in your backyard here in North Alabama?

57:41 Do you feel safe?

57:42 [S] 100%.

57:44 I have three.

57:45 I take pride in it.

57:46 When people are like, Oh, there's a nuclear power plant?

57:49 Where?

57:49 I'm like, Oh, Southwest of Athens.

57:51 Do you like having electricity?

57:53 Two million homes.

57:55 I roll up into some place and they're like, What do you do?

57:57 I'm like, I'm a senior nuclear reactor operator.

57:58 You're welcome for the lights.

58:01 [D] But you feel like it's all safe?

58:02 People make mistakes.

58:05 Something I've wondered about,

58:06 if this is a manmade system and people made this and people do make mistakes,

58:12 how do you know it's safe?

58:14 Is it because of the procedures or operations?

58:16 Why are you comfortable with it?

58:19 [S] We sweat the small stuff.

58:21 I just corrected you on how to use a ladder.

58:24 Did you think that- She did, yeah.

58:26 Did you think that you were going I've been a bit told about a ladder?

58:29 But that's it.

58:30 And we're always watching out for each other.

58:33 Bill's three levels above me, but he takes it as a piece of thing

58:38 of, I should have looked out for someone like that.

58:41 [D] So it's culture.

58:42 [S] It Is.

58:44 One of the great things about nuclear power is

58:47 being able to raise concerns without the fear of retribution.

58:51 And us knowing that we live here.

58:54 This is our home.

58:55 We had to take care of it.

58:56 [D] Tell me more about that, being able to raise concerns without...

59:01 [S] It's called SCWE.

59:02 It's the Safety Conscious Work Environment.

59:04 It's something that the nuclear power NRC mandates that we have.

59:08 If we had any concern, we can always bring it up.

59:11 If you If you don't feel that anyone is acknowledging your concern,

59:16 you go to the next level.

59:18 If you have to do it anonymous, if you have to go straight to the NRC, you can.

59:22 But no one is going to turn you away on a safety concern.

59:27 [D] That's awesome.

59:28 Thank you, Sarah.

59:29 [S] You're welcome.

59:29 [D] You went to Mississippi State?

59:30 [S] I did.

59:31 [D] You didn't smuggle a cowbell in here anywhere, did you?

59:33 [S] No, but it would be great if I did.

59:35 [D] Okay, great.

59:36 [B] This is your core map, and it's got every fuel bundle location in the core.

59:41 You can see the crosses.

59:42 Those are where your control rods normally sit at.

59:44 [D] How many fuel rods are there?

59:47 [B] 764 bundles on each core.

59:49 [D] 764?

59:50 [B] That's right.

59:50 [D] That is way more than I thought.

59:53 [B] Yeah, there's a lot.

59:54 [D] That's way more than I thought, okay.

59:56 You said the crosses are the Cruciform control rods.

1:00:00 [B] That's right.

1:00:01 [D] Okay.

1:00:03 This is rod...

1:00:05 How do I say this?

1:00:06 [B] It's just an X, Y, and X, Y map, right?

1:00:08 That'd be rod 4732 is what we call it.

1:00:11 4732.

1:00:11 [D] What the unit?

1:00:14 [B] Just core location.

1:00:16 It's an arbitrary unit that we put up of mappings.

1:00:19 [D] I see.

1:00:20 Got it.

1:00:21 When we're out there, what are we going to see?

1:00:25 Are they going to say, Go get this rod and go put it in the spent fuel?

1:00:29 [B] Yeah, they'll say, Coming to core location 1740,

1:00:32 and then you'll have another guy agree with the location that they're going

1:00:35 to go to the next control rod or the next time fuel bundle.

1:00:38 Then they'll go over that location, say we're on top of location,

1:00:41 and they'll lower the mast to sit on top of the fuel bundle.

1:00:43 Then they'll look to make sure that the fuel bundle in the location,

1:00:46 the serial number we showed earlier, all that matches.

1:00:49 Then once everybody concurs, the SRO will say,

1:00:51 I agree, you can engage on the bundle.

1:00:54 Then they'll engage, bring the bundle up,

1:00:56 and then they'll talk to the next location to go in the spend field pool.

1:00:59 [D] Who is doing that?

1:01:01 Who's keeping up with what rod's removed when?

1:01:04 [B] There's a FATF that we have.

1:01:07 This is what Jessica is keeping track of.

1:01:10 They have a manual one on that bridge.

1:01:13 They've also got a...

1:01:16 The bridge is automated now, right?

1:01:19 So there's actually- [J] This information is loaded into it.

1:01:22 [B] Yeah, so there's a computer on the bridge that will

1:01:25 help utilize to make sure that it's- [D] So Jessica, I noticed...

1:01:28 I'll see that mic for just a second.

1:01:30 So these are fuel bundles moving from one location to the next?

1:01:34 [J] It's showing them that they're going

1:01:36 to pick this up from a reactor location,

1:01:38 and then they are taking it to a location in the spent

1:01:42 fuel [D] So that's a location that means something to you.

1:01:45 [J] Yes, this is where that fuel bundle,

1:01:47 this is its home, and this is where it's going to rest.

1:01:50 [D] I see.

1:01:51 And it'll be there for two years or something like that?

1:01:53 [J] Not necessarily.

1:01:55 It could be going back to the floor.

1:01:57 It's just on this first fuel shuffle.

1:01:59 This is where it's going to rest.

1:02:00 It could be picked up and taken back and forth.

1:02:02 [D] I see.

1:02:03 Okay, Bill and I are about to go up on the bridge, which is a pretty big deal.

1:02:08 He's getting our work order number.

1:02:09 [B] Scroll down to RWP 92.

1:02:12 This is what we were brief to, right?

1:02:14 [D] Yeah.

1:02:14 [B] 62, 50.

1:02:15 We'll hit yes and yes.

1:02:17 All right.

1:02:17 [D] All right.

1:02:18 So that reset my dosimeter.

1:02:19 [D] It did.

1:02:22 Okay.

1:02:23 [B] All right.

1:02:24 Then we'll come over here and we'll get dressed out.

1:02:28 [D] I'm constantly thinking about where I set things down.

1:02:30 All right, so I'm getting dressed now, right?

1:02:32 [B] Yeah.

1:02:34 Thank you.

1:02:37 Thank you.

1:02:37 We don't wear our hard hats inside the C zone.

1:02:40 [D] Okay.

1:02:40 [B] Where we're going,

1:02:41 so you can take that off right now while we're getting dressed.

1:02:44 [D] Thank you.

1:02:46 I'm good without the ear pro for now?

1:02:48 [B] Yeah.

1:02:48 [D] Okay, great.

1:02:50 Christian's a smart cookie, isn't he?

1:02:51 [B] Well, they all are.

1:02:52 [D] Man, I wanted to...

1:02:54 Everything got itchy all of a sudden.

1:02:56 [B] Well, you got a couple more seconds.

1:02:58 You can scratch yourself.

1:02:59 [D] Can I scratch?

1:02:59 [B] Yeah.

1:03:00 You're not in the C zone yet.

1:03:01 [D] Oh, great.

1:03:02 [B] Scratch away.

1:03:04 Everything got itchy.

1:03:04 So how do I look?

1:03:06 Then hood over the top of this?

1:03:07 [B] Yeah, hood over the top.

1:03:08 You look pretty good.

1:03:09 Got my dad, got my TLD.

1:03:12 We're good.

1:03:13 [D] My TLD.

1:03:14 Okay, cool.

1:03:15 All set to go.

1:03:16 You're all gone.

1:03:17 You're ready to go?

1:03:19 Yeah.

1:03:20 Validate your R on RWP 25-200-092.

1:03:25 [B] Correct.

1:03:27 Your dose alarm is?

1:03:28 [B] 250.

1:03:30 Dose alarm is 60.

1:03:31 Dose rate alarm is 250.

1:03:32 Dose rate alarm is 250.

1:03:34 Millirem per hour.

1:03:35 [B] That's correct.

1:03:36 So you are good to go.

1:03:37 [D] Thank you.

1:03:46 I need to take it out?

1:03:47 [C] No.

1:03:48 So it's right here against your chest.

1:03:51 So what you'll do is you'll just...

1:03:54 [D] Okay.

1:03:55 [C] You need to get the green light to go through.

1:03:57 [D] Roger that.

1:03:57 [C] Just like that.

1:03:58 [D] Yes, sir.

1:03:59 So you all go, you all go, try that out.

1:04:02 [B] You ready?

1:04:02 [D] I'm ready.

1:04:10 [C] All right, you got the green light,

1:04:11 so you can progress [D] I'm going to hand this to you, Bill.

1:04:15 Okay.

1:04:21 Thank you.

1:04:27 [C] Do you all have any questions?

1:04:29 You can hand them to me, people.

1:04:30 There's another radiation protection mission inside the flail.

1:04:34 [D] Actually, I'll give that to you.

1:04:35 [B] Okay.

1:04:36 Yeah.

1:04:36 [C] Thank you.

1:04:37 [D] Thank you.

1:04:38 [B] All right.

1:04:39 You are in officially a C zone.

1:04:41 [D] We're in the C zone, The contaminated zone.

1:04:42 The contaminated zone.

1:04:43 [B] That's right.

1:04:44 [D] So this is the top of the reactor?

1:04:46 [B] Make sure you hold the handrail.

1:04:47 [D] Hold the handrail, yes, sir.

1:04:48 [B] This is actually the drywell right here.

1:04:50 This is the drywell cover.

1:04:56 This right here is our FME buffer zone, right?

1:04:59 These are our FME guys that are going to help us out

1:05:01 to make sure that we can get on inside that FME buffer zone.

1:05:06 How are you all doing today?

1:05:07 [B] We're well.

1:05:08 How are you?

1:05:08 We're good.

1:05:09 I'm going to get you all to sign this.

1:05:12 Yes, sir.

1:05:15 Please write as legitably as you can.

1:05:18 [D] Hard in gloves.

1:05:19 Do you remember me saying the foreign material exclusion people

1:05:22 wanted to make sure I didn't drop anything into the reactor?

1:05:26 Well, to do that, it required a lot of straps

1:05:28 attached to a lot of gear attached to me,

1:05:31 and we even had to wrangle another guy to come over and help us make it happen.

1:05:35 You're going to take the other one?

1:05:36 Yeah, I'm going to take this one.

1:05:40 What's your name, sir?

1:05:41 Philip.

1:05:42 [B] Philip's been with us for a long time up here.

1:05:45 [D] Has he?

1:05:48 Now, by signing this paper,

1:05:49 you all acknowledge all the rules and requirements of the F&B zone, correct?

1:05:52 [D] Yes, sir.

1:05:53 You all have no loose jewelry, no ear plugs on.

1:05:56 You have chums on your glasses.

1:05:57 [B] I do.

1:05:57 [D] Yes, sir.

1:05:58 All right.

1:05:59 Now, when you all go in there, you all understand everything that is going

1:06:02 on on the bridge and the work that's being performed.

1:06:04 [D] Yes, sir.

1:06:05 And these are to remain on your wrist at all times.

1:06:07 [D] Yes, sir.

1:06:08 All right.

1:06:08 You all understand everything to do to mitigate F&B risk?

1:06:11 [D] Yes, sir.

1:06:12 I took the training this morning.

1:06:13 All right.

1:06:13 [D] Yes, sir.

1:06:14 Brian, right?

1:06:14 Yes, sir.

1:06:15 [D] Thank you, Brian.

1:06:16 [P] What we do once they get back, this is over the spent fuel post,

1:06:21 we'll acknowledge it and let them know we're

1:06:23 coming on the bridge and down to us.

1:06:25 [D] Okay, Phillip, you're going to be with us.

1:06:27 [P] I'm going to hold this.

1:06:28 I'm going to hold this, and I'll hand it to you.

1:06:30 [D] It's recording now, just letting you know.

1:06:31 [P] Oh, are you going to put it?

1:06:33 [D] Feel free to just point it places.

1:06:35 If you find something interesting, feel free to point it, or don't.

1:06:38 [B] Before you all walk in, I need to look at the bottom of your feet,

1:06:40 make sure there's nothing stuck to it.

1:06:42 [D] Yes, sir.

1:06:42 Tell me when you'd like to do that.

1:06:44 [B] Right before you walk in, first of the night.

1:06:46 [D] Okay, so we're not in the zone yet.

1:06:48 [B] We are in the C zone.

1:06:49 We are not in that four material battery.

1:06:51 [D] Two different levels.

1:06:52 [B] That's right.

1:06:53 [D] Yeah.

1:06:53 Okay.

1:06:54 [P] He's going to go over there and put it in the trainer.

1:06:56 When he puts it in the trainer, we'll have about 30 seconds.

1:06:59 We're going to get on the train.

1:07:00 [D] Phillip, what's your role here?

1:07:02 [P] I'm an OSK Boilermaker.

1:07:04 [D] A Boilermaker?

1:07:05 [P] Yeah, OST.

1:07:06 Honest Service Technician.

1:07:08 [B] He just talks like it's no big deal.

1:07:10 This man disassembles the reactor vessel for So he knows what he's doing.

1:07:13 He knows exactly what he's doing.

1:07:14 [D] Okay.

1:07:14 So he's humble, too.

1:07:15 [B] He is very.

1:07:16 [D] All right, Brian.

1:07:19 [B] Good.

1:07:21 Good.

1:07:21 Enjoy yourself, sir.

1:07:24 [D] All right.

1:07:25 Good Philips enjoying this.

1:07:30 So that's the reactor right there.

1:07:33 That's the reactor.

1:07:36 [B] We got waived on by the SRO.

1:07:38 Go ahead, Destin.

1:07:39 You go in front of me.

1:07:40 [D] Yes, sir.

1:07:52 [B] You got the chain?

1:07:54 Thank you.

1:07:55 [D] Hello.

1:07:56 That's been doing well.

1:07:57 How are you?

1:07:59 Thank you.

1:08:00 We're at the cleaner.

1:08:02 [D] Where would you like me?

1:08:03 [B] Staying over here away from everybody.

1:08:04 [D] Yes, sir.

1:08:05 [B] You're in a really unique spot.

1:08:07 I have never seen anybody,

1:08:09 never taken anybody up here for this particular I've never seen this happen.

1:08:13 [D] This is a big deal.

1:08:14 [B] It's a huge deal.

1:08:17 Right now, you're over the spent fuel pool.

1:08:19 You can see we have coordinates.

1:08:21 If you really look carefully,

1:08:23 you'll see on the walls a map of where we're putting the spent fuel pool racks.

1:08:31 [D] Over there.

1:08:31 [B] Yeah.

1:08:33 Just try to be careful not to lean over the rails with your camera.

1:08:37 [D] Can I swap with you, Phillip?

1:08:38 [P] Yeah.

1:08:41 [D] So we just do it.

1:08:42 How are you going to do this?

1:08:42 [P] Man, I'm going to hand you this and I'm going to stay with you.

1:08:45 [D] Okay.

1:08:47 [P] You just keep that one around your wrist.

1:08:48 I'll keep this one and I'll stay with you.

1:08:50 [D] Yes, sir.

1:08:51 I'm going to look at...

1:08:53 We're pulling one out now?

1:08:54 [P] No, they're washing one.

1:08:55 [B] Now, hey, listen, that bridge will jar a little bit when it moves.

1:09:00 [D] You're telling me it's going to move, don't freak out.

1:09:03 [B] When it does, it'll hold on to everything because I don't

1:09:05 want you to think- [D] Tell me when it's going to happen, please.

1:09:07 [B] I can't promise I'll know that.

1:09:09 [D] Okay.

1:09:09 [P] When that fuel bundle comes up out

1:09:11 of that, when that's sticking down in there, when it comes up out of there.

1:09:18 He's going to move here in a second.

1:09:20 [D] He's moving the bundle?

1:09:21 [P] When it comes up out of the hole, see it coming up?

1:09:23 [D] Oh, my goodness.

1:09:24 I can see the Cherenkov.

1:09:26 [P] Yeah.

1:09:27 It'll come up to a safe hop, and then they'll take it and put it in a fuel rack.

1:09:32 [D] It's free right now.

1:09:33 I can see it's out of the hole.

1:09:47 Phillip, was that a new rod or what was that?

1:09:49 [P] That is an old one.

1:09:50 [D] That's an old rod.

1:09:51 How do you know?

1:09:51 [P] You can tell how it's burned.

1:09:53 See the blow around it?

1:09:54 [D] Yes, sir.

1:09:55 [P] See the tops?

1:09:56 They're shiny over there.

1:09:57 Them's new ones.

1:09:58 You can tell the difference because they'll be shiny like that all the way down.

1:10:00 [D] Okay, so those over there,

1:10:02 they're shiny meaning- [P] They're all new fuel rod.

1:10:04 [D] Those are brand new.

1:10:06 These are all old?

1:10:07 [P] Yes.

1:10:08 [D] A lot of this is empty, right?

1:10:09 [P] Yes.

1:10:10 Or they're going to bring it out the floor and place them there.

1:10:12 [D] So that blue glow I'm seeing is the Cherenkov radiation.

1:10:15 [P] That is correct.

1:10:18 [B] That's correct.

1:10:23 [D] I've never been more aware of my camera.

1:10:26 [B] I'm glad [D] and not dropping it.

1:10:29 Okay, what is he doing now, Philip?

1:10:31 [P] He just placed it in the fuel rack.

1:10:32 [D] He's putting it in the fuel rack.

1:10:38 [P] See it going down in there?

1:10:40 Yeah.

1:10:40 Most people think the radiation's green, but as you can see, it's not.

1:10:44 [D] It's blue.

1:10:45 [P] Yeah.

1:10:47 [D] Phillip said, Most people think the radiation's green, but it's blue.

1:10:51 [P] On all the shirts, it's green, the red and green.

1:10:55 It ain't really true.

1:10:57 [D] Phillip, what's your story, man?

1:10:59 I'm gonna level with you, man.

1:11:00 You got an Alabama accent.

1:11:01 [P] Yes, I do.

1:11:02 [D] Where are you from?

1:11:03 [P] Been here all my life.

1:11:03 [D] Been here all your life?

1:11:05 [P] Yeah.

1:11:08 [D] Okay, what just happened, Phillip?

1:11:12 It They released it?

1:11:13 [P] He released it.

1:11:14 Now, he's coming up.

1:11:17 [D] Is that a camera on the end of it?

1:11:19 [P] It is.

1:11:19 We got two cameras.

1:11:20 [D] Are we going to the reactor now?

1:11:22 [P] Yes, we are.

1:11:23 [D] Can you turn around this way, Bill, and just face that way?

1:11:26 Yeah, let me Right here.

1:11:28 [P] Let me call for you.

1:11:30 [D] Swap cameras with me.

1:11:31 [P] Swapping cameras again?

1:11:32 [B] I can't tell what this is pointing, and I apologize.

1:11:35 [D] That's okay.

1:11:36 [B] Right now, we're centering up to go through

1:11:38 the cattle shoot in order to get to the core.

1:11:40 [D] Yeah.

1:11:46 Holy cow.

1:11:48 [B] You are now officially over a reactor vessel in refueling operations.

1:11:53 [D] Oh, my goodness.

1:11:57 That's a nuclear reactor.

1:12:07 And they're just sitting there.

1:12:10 [B] Those guys are doing their inspections with the camera.

1:12:12 That's what they're working on.

1:12:13 They're trying to get a camera down to inspect the welds on the vessel.

1:12:17 [D] They're doing what?

1:12:18 [B] They're working.

1:12:18 We call them IVVI.

1:12:20 They're doing inspections of the welds and all

1:12:21 that type of stuff inside the reactive vessel barrel.

1:12:24 [D] Really?

1:12:26 [B] Let's get out of Allison's way.

1:12:27 [D] Sorry, Allison.

1:12:30 [B] So now, Destin, they're going over a core location.

1:12:34 They're going over a core location to pick up a bundle.

1:12:39 [D] I'm going to stay right here unless somebody tells me to move.

1:12:44 How far down is that?

1:12:47 [B] I'd say probably somewhere between 80 to 100 feet of water.

1:12:51 [D] So earlier, Sarah had talked about

1:12:53 the importance of communication on the bridge.

1:12:55 And I have been in environments like aircraft before where

1:12:58 they do this call and response or the positive communication.

1:13:02 But I didn't expect it the way it was happening on the bridge

1:13:05 because there were so many people spread out and they all had different tasks,

1:13:09 and they were all being very clear about what they were doing.

1:13:13 So it's like there was this tone on the bridge that was different.

1:13:17 And I could feel that I was in the way, but I was off to the side.

1:13:21 So they were letting me be there with Philip and Bill.

1:13:24 But at the same time,

1:13:26 you could just feel the professionalism of the people around you.

1:13:29 And of course, I wanted to be that way because we're

1:13:32 literally moving nuclear fuel rods in a reactor, which is awesome.

1:13:36 Okay, this is footage from inside the pressure vessel.

1:13:41 The reactor core is just down below us.

1:13:43 This is what the team is actually doing.

1:13:45 These are video cameras that are in the water with the nuclear reactor.

1:13:50 Obviously, it's not running right now.

1:13:51 It would be boiling.

1:13:52 But this blows my mind that we're even able to see this.

1:13:56 Let's take a look at what they're doing.

1:13:57 Browns Ferry is in the middle of a nuclear refueling outage, right?

1:14:01 So they're moving fuel rods.

1:14:03 This thing is called the Refuel Bridge Crane,

1:14:05 or sometimes called the main hoist.

1:14:08 This person is operating the hoist,

1:14:09 which can go up and down and rotate on its axis.

1:14:13 The hoist is connected to the hole bridge, which can move in X and Y.

1:14:17 Now, at the end of the hoist, there's a couple of cameras and a grapple.

1:14:21 The first camera is offset just a bit,

1:14:23 mounted behind the grapple with a bit of a wide view.

1:14:26 It offers context for the operator so that they know exactly where they are.

1:14:30 The second camera is right on the end of the grapple,

1:14:32 so the operator gets a close up view of exactly the thing they're picking up,

1:14:36 and they also get feedback on how the grapple is gripping the item.

1:14:40 Let's watch them actually grab a fuel rod.

1:14:43 Using a computer-controlled indexing system,

1:14:45 the mast has automatically moved into the position that they

1:14:48 specify with some type of coordinates that they typed in.

1:14:51 They then fly in and they use the coaxial

1:14:54 camera to verify they are where they want to be.

1:14:57 They then approach carefully and look closely at the fuel bundle.

1:15:00 Using the camera at the end of the mast,

1:15:03 they then verify the serial number on the top of the fuel bundle handle.

1:15:06 And then once they're satisfied with that and everything's correct,

1:15:09 they then lock onto the handle with a grapple.

1:15:12 After When they verify they have a solid grip on the fuel bundle,

1:15:15 they can then extract it.

1:15:17 They can then do any number of things with the bundle.

1:15:20 They can use other cameras to inspect it.

1:15:22 They can move it.

1:15:24 They can rotate it.

1:15:25 They can even put it in an on it cleaner.

1:15:28 For every four fuel bundles that are in the reactor core,

1:15:31 there's a control rod in the shape of a plus or a cross.

1:15:34 It's called a cruciform control rod,

1:15:36 and it's inserted from the bottom of the reactor.

1:15:39 That's what stops the reaction.

1:15:41 Because Because these control rods are so long,

1:15:43 if they ever remove more than two bundles, that control rod could wobble.

1:15:48 So to control this wobble, they have these things called blade guides.

1:15:51 Anytime there's two or more bundles removed from a certain grid,

1:15:55 they insert these blade guides to hold the control rod in position.

1:15:59 If you look down into the core, you can see these bright, shiny spots.

1:16:02 Now, I thought those were new fuel rods, but they're actually blade guides.

1:16:06 You'll notice that they're always in sets of two.

1:16:09 The operators say that inserting a blade guide is wiggling a pair of pants

1:16:13 and trying to get the two legs to line up with two holes.

1:16:16 It's pretty hard, they say.

1:16:17 Now, while all this fuel rod movement is happening,

1:16:20 there's this other team that Bill told us about,

1:16:23 the IVVI team, which stands for In-Vessel Visual Inspection team,

1:16:27 they're using a bunch of cameras on jib arms.

1:16:30 You can see one of those cameras here.

1:16:32 You see it's got a long arm and it can articulate.

1:16:34 They use these cameras to closely inspect the mechanical

1:16:38 integrity of the reactor vessel and any of its components.

1:16:41 Watching them to do this is so awesome,

1:16:44 and it made me really respect the process that's going on here.

1:16:47 Everything that's done has a crazy attention to detail about it,

1:16:50 and it's clear that these nuclear industry

1:16:53 workers really care about getting everything exactly right.

1:16:57 Now that we understand what we're looking at and we know what they're doing,

1:17:00 let's just watch the team in action.

1:17:02 They're about to take a rod from the reactor core,

1:17:05 and they're going to put it over in the spent fuel pool.

1:17:08 I want to scratch my nose so bad.

1:17:10 [B] Don't do it.

1:17:11 [D] I will not.

1:17:12 Phillip, what's he doing, man?

1:17:15 Did he just grab it?

1:17:16 [P] Yeah, I think he's got one on there.

1:17:19 Yeah, he's coming up.

1:17:20 [D] Is that a light in the pool?

1:17:22 [P] Yeah, we have cavity lights.

1:17:25 [D] And he changed the orientation?

1:17:26 [P] He did.

1:17:28 He just rotated it back.

1:17:30 [D] Does orientation matter?

1:17:31 [P] Yes, orientation matters.

1:17:32 [D] Why does it matter?

1:17:34 [P] Because when you put four in there, you got to have them orientated right.

1:18:12 [D] I see the train caught.

1:18:14 So, Phil, that's called the cattle gate we're going through?

1:18:17 [P] Cattle shoot.

1:18:17 Yes, sir.

1:18:17 [D] Cattle chute.

1:18:22 Wow.

1:18:40 Is that a hot [P] It is very hot.

1:18:43 [D] That's a very hot rod.

1:18:45 [P] Yes.

1:18:47 If that come out of the water we would no longer be here.

1:18:50 None of us up here.

1:18:51 [D] Really?

1:18:51 [P] Really.

1:18:54 [D] The water is protecting us from the neutrons right now.

1:18:57 [P] At least six and a half feet or below.

1:19:12 What location is K-O-F-Eleven South West.

1:19:15 Is he right?

1:19:16 [P] What they're doing now is verifying the location where they're putting it.

1:19:21 They read the serial, the rack number.

1:19:24 They can say they're putting it in golf.

1:19:27 Big golf.

1:19:28 Yeah.

1:19:29 Well, golf 11 is where they're putting it in.

1:19:34 [D] Oh, I see.

1:19:35 I see the numbers on the rack over here.

1:19:36 I see the letters.

1:19:37 Yeah.

1:19:37 I'm going to watch him drop it, and then I'm going to look at his letters.

1:19:39 Yeah.

1:19:40 [P] Numbers over here, letters over here.

1:19:42 They keep up with the location that we put them.

1:19:44 When we do a dry cast, we'll put them in and know which one it's to get.

1:20:04 [D] That was golf 11?

1:20:06 [P] Yup.

1:20:14 [D] So we were in golf 11.

1:20:19 [P] 3 back.

1:20:21 13, 12, 11.

1:20:23 [D] So now he's releasing.

1:20:32 [P] Now, they're come up to the safe location to get back to the cattle chute.

1:20:35 [Inaudible] [D] So we're in the refuel pool,

1:20:45 and we're going to the reactor, right?

1:20:55 We're going through the cattle chute now.

1:20:56 For most of my life, I haven't understood nuclear power, but it was here,

1:21:02 standing safely over the top of an open nuclear reactor with fuel in it,

1:21:06 that I started to realize something.

1:21:08 One of the main reasons people fear this technology is they don't understand it,

1:21:14 but everything was starting to make sense to me.

1:21:16 And with that, I was starting to run out of things to be afraid of.

1:21:26 Thank you, gentlemen.

1:21:27 No problem.

1:21:28 That's okay.

1:21:28 Thank you, Allison.

1:21:32 Don't want to hit that button.

1:21:34 [B] What is it?

1:21:35 The E-stop?

1:21:35 [D] The E-stop.

1:21:36 That's awesome.

1:21:38 There's just a few more important things I want to show you.

1:21:40 The first of which is in the equipment storage pool.

1:21:43 What is this over here to the right?

1:21:45 [B] That's your steam dryer.

1:21:46 [D] And what is this?

1:21:47 [B] That's your moisture separator.

1:21:48 [D] Now, how does a moisture separator work?

1:21:50 [B] Well, so it's essentially as the steam boils,

1:21:54 it's got cylindrical torturous path for the steam, right?

1:21:59 So only the superheated steam is going to make

1:22:02 it out of the steam separator and the remaining, I guess we say condensation,

1:22:07 if you want to call it the water,

1:22:09 moisture content in the water will drop back down to the [D]

1:22:11 So it's almost like a still, but just for steam.

1:22:14 [B] That's right.

1:22:14 [D] Really?

1:22:15 But it uses some of the energetic properties of steam to separate it.

1:22:18 [B] Yeah.

1:22:18 All it is is really a big hunk of metal and lets the steam do the work.

1:22:21 [D] Oh, really?

1:22:21 [B] Yeah.

1:22:22 [D] I see.

1:22:23 Wow.

1:22:23 Why is it in the pool?

1:22:25 [B] Well, because it sits on top of the reactor.

1:22:27 [D] Oh, that's right.

1:22:28 [B] Because we boil inside the reactor,

1:22:30 and then we use that to make our steam high quality,

1:22:35 and then we get it through the dryer and then after the steam lines.

1:22:39 [D] Okay.

1:22:40 I'm starting to understand.

1:22:41 I had not considered this part of it.

1:22:43 You make hot water in there, in the reactor, it boils, and it goes up.

1:22:51 When it goes up, it goes into that?

1:22:54 [B] That's right.

1:22:55 [D] Then is that like a heat exchanger?

1:22:57 It bumps?

1:22:58 I'm noticing pipes.

1:23:01 [B] No.

1:23:03 All they are are like cylindrical pipes.

1:23:05 There's no- [D] There's no ceiling.

1:23:07 [B] No.

1:23:07 [D] It's just to make it go in a direction.

1:23:09 [B] That's correct.

1:23:10 It's a torturous path for the steam to go through.

1:23:12 In order to allow the moisture content to drop.

1:23:15 [D] I see.

1:23:16 Okay.

1:23:17 Then that hot water gets circulated out,

1:23:21 and then that goes to the turbine, right?

1:23:23 [B] The steam.

1:23:24 [D] The steam, excuse me.

1:23:25 [B] The superheat of steam.

1:23:26 [D] Yes.

1:23:27 Yeah, okay, because the top is steam.

1:23:29 [B] Right.

1:23:29 You want as low moisture content as possible, right?

1:23:32 Going to the turbine.

1:23:33 [D] This gentleman come through.

1:23:35 [P] Just a big dryer filtration.

1:23:37 [D] Big dryer filtration?

1:23:38 [P] It comes up, it gets the steam drier and drier.

1:23:41 [D] Really?

1:23:42 It was now time to exit the contamination

1:23:44 zone and make our way over to the turbine, which I was super excited about.

1:23:49 But first, we had to have all our camera equipment examined to make

1:23:52 sure that no pieces had fallen off while we were on the bridge.

1:23:56 While they were doing that, we took off our radiation protection clothing,

1:23:59 and after that, we had to sign out of that RWP for the bridge

1:24:02 and back on to the one that we had been on when we entered the plant.

1:24:06 We then had to do some radiation testing to make sure we were clean,

1:24:08 and Bill took us down and over to see the turbine.

1:24:11 [B] Back the way we came and then go in another elevator.

1:24:13 [D] And you still have the gun.

1:24:17 [A] Would you like to carry it?

1:24:19 [D] No.

1:24:20 [B] No.

1:24:21 [A] I would not.

1:24:25 [D] On our way over to the turbine, we had to go back through the room that had

1:24:29 a lot of the control infrastructure for the control rods in it.

1:24:32 We walked past that drain that we walked

1:24:34 into when we went into the water tight door.

1:24:37 We had to make sure we didn't step on the drain.

1:24:38 Then we went through that water tight door and we ended up here.

1:24:42 Where are we, Bill?

1:24:43 [B] We're on the turbine deck right now.

1:24:45 [D] Turbine deck?

1:24:46 [B] Yeah, we're going to show you what the main turbine looks like.

1:24:55 Typically, this is inaccessible when we're operating, right?

1:24:59 You couldn't go to any of the other units.

1:25:02 But this is our main turbine.

1:25:04 [D] This is the turbine?

1:25:05 [B] That's correct.

1:25:07 Three-stage turbine.

1:25:11 [D] And it's It is not running right now?

1:25:13 [B] It is not running.

1:25:14 That's correct.

1:25:15 [D] So the fact that we're here is pretty cool.

1:25:16 [B] I think so.

1:25:17 You got your high pressure turbine and your three low pressure turbine stages.

1:25:20 [D] So this is the high pressure turbine right here?

1:25:22 [B] That's right.

1:25:25 [D] What's it wrapped in?

1:25:27 [B] Just lagging.

1:25:28 [D] For what?

1:25:29 [B] Just to keep it cool or in case somebody touches it.

1:25:31 [D]Insulation?

1:25:32 [B] Insulation.

1:25:33 [D] Yeah.

1:25:33 What did you call it?

1:25:34 [B] Lagging.

1:25:35 [D] Lagging.

1:25:36 [B] That's right.

1:25:36 [D] Okay, cool.

1:25:37 Following you, man.

1:25:38 [B] All right.

1:25:42 [D] So this is the high pressure side?

1:25:44 [B] This is the low pressure side.

1:25:45 [D] Low pressure.

1:25:46 [B] We got three low pressure sides.

1:25:50 [D] Wow.

1:25:51 And so normally that thing's moving real fast.

1:25:54 A lot of energy.

1:25:55 [B] About 1800 RPM.

1:25:57 [D] So this is what keeps my lights on.

1:26:02 1800 RPM is a lot for something this massive.

1:26:05 [B] That's right.

1:26:06 [D] So you have to start it because of rotational inertia.

1:26:09 There's no way that you start with steam initially?

1:26:13 [D] Yeah.

1:26:13 You don't have a booster to get it going.

1:26:16 [B] We have a jacking gear that we'll run it on.

1:26:18 [D] A transmission?

1:26:20 [B] Effectively.

1:26:21 Well, really, the jacking gear just rolls.

1:26:24 It's an electric motor that just rolls the turbine.

1:26:26 So while we have steam getting ready to be applied to it,

1:26:29 it doesn't bow the rotor.

1:26:30 So really, it's steam that rolls this turbine.

1:26:33 [D] Wow.

1:26:36 It's huge.

1:26:41 And so those lifting lugs are to take the top of it off.

1:26:45 So is this a crane overhead?

1:26:46 [B] That is, yeah.

1:26:48 And somehow it just will actually expose all this and show some

1:26:52 turbine and have the low pressure turbine available and we'll work on it.

1:26:55 [D] So is there a turbine for each unit?

1:26:58 [B] Yes, sir.

1:26:59 [D] Which unit is this?

1:27:00 This is unit two.

1:27:01 I guess there has to be because we're producing on the other ones.

1:27:04 [B] That's right.

1:27:04 [D] I'm sorry for the dumb questions.

1:27:05 I'm overwhelmed.

1:27:06 [B] Not at all.

1:27:08 [D] So this is unit two's turbine.

1:27:11 Are the other unit one and unit two turbines in a different room?

1:27:14 [B] They are very similar to this, mirrored

1:27:16 to this, just inaccessible right now because they're operating.

1:27:18 [D] What's on the other end?

1:27:19 Is the generator down there?

1:27:20 [B] That's the generator.

1:27:22 So you can see.

1:27:23 Actually, that's a good view.

1:27:24 You can see some of your pole pieces in the generator right there.

1:27:27 [D] Wow.

1:27:37 That's amazing.

1:27:38 Yeah, definitely.

1:27:39 So in order to make a round thing run true,

1:27:42 a lot of times you have an indicator that you put,

1:27:46 anchor it to something else and you touch off.

1:27:49 Then as the thing rotates, you can see if it goes up or down.

1:27:54 I see one of those, but it's Where it is, it's confusing me.

1:28:03 That's a dial indicator.

1:28:08 Phillip, have you ever worked in the turbine area?

1:28:10 [P] I have.

1:28:11 [D] Have you ever worked on [P] Let me say what you're looking at.

1:28:14 [D] Okay.

1:28:15 Yeah.

1:28:19 [P] I have not.

1:28:20 [D] I have.

1:28:22 I have not.

1:28:25 That's great.

1:28:26 [B] Yeah, I suspect they're checking bearing round this.

1:28:28 [P] Yeah, it's checking for run out on the shaft.

1:28:31 [D] Say it again.

1:28:32 [P] Checking for run out on the shaft.

1:28:34 [D] What does that mean?

1:28:35 [P] If the shaft were not perfectly round, then as it rotated,

1:28:39 you would see a change in that distance that they're measuring.

1:28:44 [D] How do they turn the shaft?

1:28:46 It's massive.

1:28:47 So how can they turn it in this motor?

1:28:50 [P] This motor right here.

1:28:52 It has a worm gear on it.

1:28:54 That worm gear would drive a You can see there.

1:28:58 It's interfacing right there.

1:28:59 [D] Is that the jacking motor you were talking about?

1:29:01 [B] That's the jacking motor, yeah.

1:29:02 [D] Oh, wow.

1:29:03 So this motor is specifically to turn the shaft so that they can test it.

1:29:14 That is so cool.

1:29:17 [P] This is two different sections of the turbine shaft,

1:29:20 so they've got their dial indicator set up as a reference on one,

1:29:24 and they're measuring the other.

1:29:25 They're looking to see that those two shafts are lined up.

1:29:28 [D] So they will spin one relative to the other?

1:29:30 [P] Right.

1:29:31 [D] So this is the exact junction between the turbine and the generator?

1:29:34 [P] Yes.

1:29:34 [D] Got it.

1:29:35 Is there a clutch or anything there, or is it direct bolted connection?

1:29:38 [P] It's directly coupled.

1:29:40 [D] Really?

1:29:41 When it spins up, when you guys bring up a unit,

1:29:44 will you get any wobble or vibration?

1:29:46 [P] There will be some, but it's minimal.

1:29:50 It's contracted out.

1:29:52 There's a crew that balances this thing, and it's amazing how closely balanced.

1:29:58 [D] Really?

1:29:58 [B] When we spin this turbine, we keep a very close eye on the vibrations on it.

1:30:02 We're typically around seven mils at worst.

1:30:05 [D] Really?

1:30:06 [B] On any bearing.

1:30:07 There's 12 bearings that are through here.

1:30:09 We watch every single one of them.

1:30:10 [D] Really?

1:30:12 [B] 7 mils is about where we get it.

1:30:14 [D] That's amazing for something that's large.

1:30:16 [B] Oh, yeah.

1:30:17 [D] Where is it machined?

1:30:19 Where do you buy a turbine like this?

1:30:21 [B] This is GE's turbine.

1:30:23 [D] Oh, General Electric.

1:30:24 Do they own the turbine, too, or they made it?

1:30:26 [B] They made it.

1:30:27 [D] They made it and you guys bought it.

1:30:28 [B] Yes.

1:30:29 [D] Got it.

1:30:29 I live in North Alabama, so we say turbine.

1:30:32 If I lived in the UK, we would say turbine.

1:30:35 When it comes to making energy out of steam,

1:30:38 there's a lot of semantics that a lot

1:30:40 of engineers like to get wrapped around the axial about.

1:30:43 But we're not going to worry about that right now.

1:30:44 I recognize that energy and power

1:30:47 and all these, they have specific engineering units.

1:30:50 But for now, let's just suspend all that and let's

1:30:53 be kids talking about a really cool thing.

1:30:56 Okay?

1:30:56 So the cool thing about a nuclear plant is it makes steam.

1:31:00 Almost all power plants make steam.

1:31:03 Steel is compressed and it's expanding if you allow it to, right?

1:31:07 Well, we can use that.

1:31:09 So I've got these little models here.

1:31:11 These are little cheap little turbine blade things that I bought.

1:31:15 And I've got one right here that's got a single turbine blade in it.

1:31:18 And I've got this little valve set up right here to an air compressor.

1:31:23 And if I turn this little valve right here,

1:31:26 I can actually allow this thing to turn.

1:31:29 Now, this is a little different.

1:31:30 This isn't expanding steam.

1:31:31 It's just air running through this.

1:31:33 So watch this.

1:31:36 So I can create a gas that's moving into torque that turns a shaft, right?

1:31:43 Now, it's just compressed air.

1:31:44 This is not expanding steam.

1:31:45 But let's think about this, for example.

1:31:47 There's a lot of wasted air that's moving out of this thing, right?

1:31:52 Well, what you can do for that is you can use multiple blades.

1:31:56 So as the air comes in one side and it goes to the next one.

1:31:59 And the next one, if you have these multiple blades stacked up,

1:32:02 you can get more energy out of that gas.

1:32:05 So I've got another valve here, so I can turn this thing.

1:32:11 Okay, You get the idea.

1:32:12 Multiple blades, I can get more energy out of the steam.

1:32:16 So again, this is compressed gas.

1:32:18 This isn't steam, but it's interesting.

1:32:21 Now, let's look back at those images

1:32:23 from this turbine blades that we saw earlier.

1:32:25 This is a turbine blade from when Browns Ferry was first being constructed.

1:32:29 You notice it's got this bow tie-looking shape to it.

1:32:32 And then this is a turbine blade from a recent

1:32:35 upgrade of the Unit 2 steam turbine here at Browns Ferry.

1:32:38 You notice it looks like it's got little things

1:32:40 in the middle and then big things out to the side, right?

1:32:43 In the middle, we have high pressure,

1:32:45 and as it expands, it's like going to a lower pressure.

1:32:48 You need a larger surface area on those turbine blades so you

1:32:52 can act on it and get the same amount of torque, right?

1:32:55 So that's why it's growing.

1:32:57 If you look back at the actual turbine blades,

1:32:59 you can see that the center shaft is solid.

1:33:01 And the reason for that is that's where the steam is inserted.

1:33:04 It's inserted right here in the middle,

1:33:06 and then it runs along the fan blades out each end of the turbine.

1:33:11 And the The reason it's a bow tie shape is actually fascinating.

1:33:15 In my little model here, I've got a single turbine blade, right?

1:33:17 You see that?

1:33:18 So watch what happens when I apply the air.

1:33:21 It's actually going to try to push it out.

1:33:23 So watch this flywheel push to the side.

1:33:25 You ready?

1:33:27 See it?

1:33:28 It's very subtle.

1:33:29 And watch again.

1:33:30 So it's actually trying to push out of the journal bearings here.

1:33:34 So they mirror it, and that axial thrust is

1:33:37 canceled out by the axial thrust in the other direction.

1:33:40 So they flip the turbine blades on each side, which is fascinating.

1:33:45 Now, Bill said there are four turbines in that building.

1:33:48 One, two, three, four.

1:33:50 And one seems to be smaller than the others.

1:33:52 Let me show you how this works.

1:33:53 So we have in the reactor that we saw earlier, we have neutrons, uranium-235,

1:34:00 and these neutrons are in water in a very special way in the reactor core,

1:34:05 but they're making steam, right?

1:34:07 And they're making that steam at a thousand something PSI,

1:34:10 but it's coming off of that at like,

1:34:13 900 something PSI after it goes through some valves and stuff.

1:34:16 And so, 900.

1:34:18 And what happens there is they take that steam

1:34:21 and they put it in a high pressure steam turbine.

1:34:24 So it goes into that bow tie thing,

1:34:28 like we were talking about earlier, but this is the high pressure steam turbine.

1:34:33 Now, as it goes through that, it goes through the middle and it expands out.

1:34:38 After that, you've got this other steam that's coming out of this thing.

1:34:42 It's 250 PSI, but it still wants to expand.

1:34:46 So what they do is they take more steam

1:34:49 turbines and they put them in the same room.

1:34:52 Now, these are low pressure steam turbines, okay?

1:34:54 So they take this 250 PSI steam,

1:34:57 and then they put it on all the different low pressure steam turbines like this.

1:35:04 So you can take that and you can run them in parallel paths.

1:35:08 So you've got this thing you've built now

1:35:10 where you've got uranium making You're pumping steam,

1:35:13 and you're pumping 900 PSI steam into the high pressure turbine,

1:35:17 and then out comes this 250 PSI steam.

1:35:21 And there's other things going on, like separators and condensers

1:35:24 that we're not going to talk about right now.

1:35:25 But these lower pressure steam turbines, they're bigger.

1:35:29 And the reason they have to be bigger is because they're at a lower pressure.

1:35:33 And if you're going to act on a lower pressure on a larger surface area,

1:35:38 you can end up getting the same force

1:35:40 because pressure is equal to force by area.

1:35:42 You get it.

1:35:43 You're smart.

1:35:43 You know what's going on here.

1:35:45 So if we have all of these turbines on the same shaft,

1:35:49 and then we put a generator right there at the end,

1:35:53 voila, we have a nuclear power plant.

1:35:56 We've gone from hot rocks making steam, and that steam can go to making torque.

1:36:02 And then we're putting all these different turbines on the same shaft.

1:36:06 It's really cool, by the way, how they balance the torque along this.

1:36:09 I think that's fascinating.

1:36:10 Maybe we'll talk about that later.

1:36:12 All All that goes to a generator here, and you get electrons out the other side.

1:36:16 So nuclear power to electrons.

1:36:20 It's fascinating.

1:36:21 So high pressure turbines, low pressure turbines, generator.

1:36:26 So high pressure side, low pressure generator.

1:36:31 Is that right, Bill?

1:36:32 [B] That's right.

1:36:33 [D] Okay.

1:36:36 So dumb question.

1:36:39 Why is high pressure upstream.

1:36:43 So does the steam run down as it goes?

1:36:46 [B] It's lower quality steam on the low pressure side.

1:36:48 [D] But it doesn't run along the turbine.

1:36:51 It runs in and out.

1:36:52 [B] No.

1:36:52 These are actually steam valves, CIVs down here.

1:36:55 So it'll actually run in and out and under the generator.

1:36:57 [D] Got it.

1:36:58 [B] Or under the turbine, excuse me.

1:36:59 [D] The last thing Bill is going to show us is the generator that's

1:37:01 hooked up to the end of one of those long turbine shafts, which is amazing.

1:37:06 But before he does that, I want to tell you something.

1:37:08 There's going to be a long cut on the second channel

1:37:10 when I get through with the security review process and all that.

1:37:14 But there's like hours of footage, like three and a half,

1:37:17 four hours of footage that I'm going to put over on the second channel.

1:37:20 Go check that out.

1:37:21 Smarter Every Day 2.

1:37:22 It's amazing.

1:37:23 There's a lot of stuff not included

1:37:25 in this video that will be on the second channel.

1:37:27 Please go check that out.

1:37:29 Okay, let's go see the generator.

1:37:30 [B] This is an operating generator.

1:37:32 So the generator is really from here to the wall over there.

1:37:39 [D] It's just hard to hear you.

1:37:41 [B] That's fine.

1:37:41 The generator's from here to the wall.

1:37:43 And this is what's generating that 1,300 to 50

1:37:46 megawatts electric that you saw in Quinn's office earlier.

1:37:49 [D] So that meter in Quinn's office is coming right off of this.

1:37:52 [B]That's right.

1:37:52 [D] That's cool.

1:37:54 So it's quieter than I thought.

1:37:57 [B] That's not too bad.

1:37:58 It's a little loud.

1:37:59 [D] So what did we see in the other room?

1:38:01 You said you couldn't go in that room normally.

1:38:04 [B] The turbine.

1:38:05 So that's the turbine that fits the rotor.

1:38:07 It's got a common rotor.

1:38:08 [D] So the turbine is that way.

1:38:10 [B] That's right.

1:38:11 So three things to make electricity, right?

1:38:13 [D] Yeah.

1:38:13 [B] Rotating, element, magnetic field, current carry, conductive, right?

1:38:18 You got hole pieces inside this generator.

1:38:20 You got a magnetic field on the rotor that's spinning,

1:38:24 cutting lines of current down to the generator.

1:38:27 Now, through the ISO, the bus is out to the grid.

1:38:29 [D] So this thing right here is what makes 60 hertz power?

1:38:34 [B] Yes, it is.

1:38:36 Absolutely.

1:38:37 [D] So how do you synchronize this to the grid?

1:38:41 [B] That's That's an excellent question.

1:38:43 So typically what will end up happening is

1:38:46 this is running at a certain speed, right?

1:38:49 And I always like the phrase nuclear power equals 120 times the fun.

1:38:53 That's an equation for us.

1:38:55 Np equals 120 f.

1:38:58 The speed of the machine times the number

1:39:00 of the poles is equal to 120 times the frequency, right?

1:39:05 So what we're able to do, what that really means is frequency is

1:39:08 directly related to the speed of the machine.

1:39:10 So I can control the speed of machine before we're synchronized

1:39:13 to the grid to make it come up a little higher.

1:39:16 If you think about your ice cream for three days they see, right?

1:39:19 [D] Yeah.

1:39:19 [B] We can make it come up a little bit faster,

1:39:22 and then we'll synchronize the grid.

1:39:23 We have this thing called a synchroscope,

1:39:25 and it'll spin around, spin around, and When it's at 12:00,

1:39:28 it means the phase from the grid and the phase

1:39:30 from the generator are synchronized and we'll close it.

1:39:32 [D] That happens right here.

1:39:34 [B] Well, the breakers down below us, they do it up in the control room.

1:39:37 That's what's out putting the energy into the grid.

1:39:40 [D] As we headed to the exit,

1:39:41 I was just struck how much Bill knows and how complicated this plant is,

1:39:45 and I asked him about that.

1:39:47 There's a lot of things to know here.

1:39:49 [B] There are.

1:39:50 There are.

1:39:51 [D] Is it intimidating for you?

1:39:53 [B] When I first got in the nuclear power, it was very intimidating.

1:39:56 I had a study really hard.

1:39:58 But the more and more you work here,

1:39:59 the more and more you understand what's important, the easier it is.

1:40:03 Everybody has a little piece we understand, too.

1:40:05 Right?

1:40:06 We're not working their team.

1:40:07 Somebody who's more than somebody else in the process of learning something.

1:40:10 Even when you think you know everything, I promise you, you don't.

1:40:13 Yeah, nobody here knows everything.

1:40:15 [D] The last thing we had to do was exit the radiologically-controlled area,

1:40:19 which meant we had to make sure

1:40:21 we didn't have any radiation contamination on us,

1:40:24 which I thought was going to be pretty easy.

1:40:25 So we took apart the camera gear and handed

1:40:28 it over to be checked, and we failed.

1:40:31 Oh, come on.

1:40:32 These things.

1:40:33 4,500.

1:40:38 [D] Is that a lot?

1:40:39 No, it's just too high.

1:40:42 Let's put your other one in.

1:40:43 [D] Okay.

1:40:44 Put this one in?

1:40:46 All right.

1:40:47 Maybe, hopefully, we'll get at least one camera out.

1:40:52 So we went back and we cleaned everything,

1:40:54 gave it a really good wiping down to have it rechecked, and we failed again.

1:40:59 Now, possibly radon.

1:41:05 It's possible radon gas.

1:41:06 This was most likely that radon that's emitted naturally,

1:41:09 and the fact that the testing machines are so sensitive, they're picking it up.

1:41:13 George and I are slowly trying to get the cameras out.

1:41:15 [G] Bye, little camera.

1:41:20 [D] Yeah, cook it.

1:41:22 Almost.

1:41:24 We ended up disassembling the cameras because things

1:41:27 could make it out if they were smaller, physically, for some reason.

1:41:31 So once we disassembled everything and made

1:41:33 sure everything was cleared to go, we passed.

1:41:37 Yeah, we made it.

1:41:38 Now that we had officially left the RCA, logged out of our RWP,

1:41:42 keys and turned in our dosimeters,

1:41:43 we started to make our way out of the secure area.

1:41:46 A big thank you to Bill.

1:41:48 Angela keeping us safe.

1:41:49 Phillip.

1:41:50 Thank you, Clarissa.

1:41:51 Thank you, George.

1:41:52 I can't point at George because there's stuff that way.

1:41:54 [B] Thank you for visiting us.

1:41:55 [D] Thank you very much.

1:41:56 Bill's got to get home.

1:41:57 Alright, real quick I just wanna show you something that I

1:42:00 was thinking about when I went to shoot the outro here look

1:42:03 at this this is something I keep on the wall here

1:42:06 at Smarter Every Day It's some little posters that my Daughter made

1:42:10 years ago and I was just sitting here looking

1:42:13 at that and thinking man like we went from just making videos like

1:42:16 that to being able to go into a nuclear power plant and I

1:42:21 think the reason that happens Is over a long period of time

1:42:26 developing trust and I just want to say thank you to TVA

1:42:31 for trusting me with this story also thank you to Idaho

1:42:34 National Lab because it's apart of the nuclear power deep dive

1:42:37 series We're going to get to learn all kinds of stuff

1:42:40 and so I was looking at this little poster and I

1:42:42 was like I'm just a dude in Alabama Over years people have

1:42:47 started trusting what we do here on Smarter Every Day and I

1:42:50 want to say thank you to you as the viewer because you,

1:42:54 watching these videos and taking me seriously,

1:42:57 I don't know why you do that but you take me seriously I'm grateful because,

1:43:01 that elevates my reputation so when I call somebody their like yes,

1:43:08 we will let you do this and it's a really big deal so I'm grateful

1:43:13 for the trust that you have placed in me

1:43:15 I'm grateful for the trust from the TVA,

1:43:17 organizations like this It's a big deal and we get to learn some amazing things.

1:43:21 Nuclear power is a thing I've always wanted

1:43:24 to learn about and we've just been given that opportunity

1:43:27 in an amazing way and we're going to continue

1:43:29 to do that we're gonna learn about how they

1:43:31 arrange the fuel we're gonna learn about how they

1:43:33 opperate the plant we're gonna learn so much more

1:43:35 and were also gonna learn at Idaho National Lab

1:43:37 about the future of nuclear power It's an amazing thing,

1:43:41 I feel so blessed to have this opportunity I'm excited about it,

1:43:44 another thing I just wanna say is thank you