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A new nuclear reactor in the U.S. starts up. It’s the first in nearly seven years
CNBC ^ | 7 Mar 2023 | Catherine Clifford

Posted on 03/07/2023 2:18:01 PM PST by DUMBGRUNT

On Monday, Georgia Power announced that the Vogtle nuclear reactor Unit 3 has started a nuclear reaction inside the nuclear reactor. Technically, this is called “initial criticality” and is when the nuclear fission process has started splitting atoms, generating heat.

Vogtle’s Unit 3 reactor will be fully in service in May or June, Georgia Power said.

The last time a nuclear reactor reached the same milestone was almost seven years ago when the Tennessee Valley Authority started splitting atoms at the Watts Bar Unit 2 reactor in Tennessee, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

“This is a truly exciting time as we prepare to bring online a new nuclear unit that will serve our state with clean and emission-free energy for the next 60 to 80 years,”

(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat; History
KEYWORDS: georgia; georgiapower; nuclearreactor; nuke; vogtle; vogtlegeorgiapower
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Glow-in-the-dark peaches taste much better than plain old ones.
1 posted on 03/07/2023 2:18:01 PM PST by DUMBGRUNT
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To: DUMBGRUNT

in 2020 it was reported that the weight of the structure couldn’t be supported by the clay ground...

.. and it was sinking.

This isn’t a big deal when it’s manned, but if something were to happen and it was abandoned the reactor containment will break down after some period.
Not that anyone cares.


2 posted on 03/07/2023 2:22:46 PM PST by Celerity
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To: DUMBGRUNT
Within a few years there will be another Fukushima almost disaster ("almost" as in number of deaths = 0) and the Dims will demand the shut down of all nuclayur plants (typed in my best Bush voice).

Nuclear is great IMHO form a physical science perspective. But it's weak in political science.

3 posted on 03/07/2023 2:26:47 PM PST by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
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To: DUMBGRUNT
I've been listening to a college chemistry course on Audible and one of the chapters was on the process for uranium enrichment. I was blown away to learn that nuclear fuel rods are only enriched to be around 5% U-235 whereas weapons-grade uranium is around 90% U-235. In nature, U-235 is a rare isotope compared to the far more common U-238 and U-235 is more desired because it's more fissile than U-238.

Fascinating process in general, using gas diffusion laws or centrifugal force to separate U-235 UF6 molecules from U-238 variants, aka enrichment.

4 posted on 03/07/2023 2:28:35 PM PST by NohSpinZone (First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

A little bit of radiation is actually good for you, so I’ve heard.


5 posted on 03/07/2023 2:30:20 PM PST by Telepathic Intruder
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To: DUMBGRUNT

In the 70’s and 80’s we had bumper stickers stating

“Nuclear Power
Friend of the Earth”

Sure did tick off a lot of the Ralph Nadar congregation


6 posted on 03/07/2023 2:36:06 PM PST by Oscar in Batangas (An Honors Graduate from the Don Rickles School of Personal Verbal Intercourse)
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To: Celerity

—”in 2020 it was reported that the weight of the structure couldn’t be supported by the clay ground...

.. and it was sinking.”

Is the esteemed congressman from Georgia still spreading strange tales?


7 posted on 03/07/2023 2:41:26 PM PST by DUMBGRUNT ( "The enemy has overrun us. We are blowing up everything. Vive la France!"Dien Bien Phu last messa)
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To: Oscar in Batangas

I live about 2 miles from a nuclear power plant. It’s been running since 1970.


8 posted on 03/07/2023 2:44:09 PM PST by Dutch Boy (The only thing worse than having something taken from you is to have it returned broken. )
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To: NohSpinZone

That small percentage enrichment is why spent fuel can be reconditioned and re-used so as to create less waste. Flip side is the more you do it the closer you get to weapons grade. I think that is why we just dump spent rods in a hole in New Mexico.


9 posted on 03/07/2023 2:54:22 PM PST by RightOnTheBorder
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To: NohSpinZone

Read “The Making of the Atomic Bomb” by Richard Rhodes. It won Pulitzer and is on my Top 10 list. I’ve read it 4 times. Pick up something I missed every time.


10 posted on 03/07/2023 2:58:59 PM PST by 6ppc (Democrats would have to climb Everest to reach the level of "scum of the earth")
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To: Celerity

2nd Peter Chapter 3. The Almighty will take care of all the trash, and give us new heavens and a new Earth.


11 posted on 03/07/2023 3:00:07 PM PST by Tucker39 ("It is impossible so to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible." George Washington )
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To: RightOnTheBorder

Interesting. Yes, dumping spent rods would be far more desirable to plants blowing up to smithereens.


12 posted on 03/07/2023 3:01:04 PM PST by NohSpinZone (First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers)
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To: 6ppc

Thank you for the tip! I shall. I just checked and there’s a 25th anniversary version of it on Audible. Looking forward to it.


13 posted on 03/07/2023 3:02:28 PM PST by NohSpinZone (First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers)
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To: DUMBGRUNT

Like they used to say at Perry Nuclear, “hell no, we won’t glow!”


14 posted on 03/07/2023 3:05:03 PM PST by hinckley buzzard ( Resist the narrative.)
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To: Oscar in Batangas

In the early 1980’s my dad had a sticker on his vehicle that said “More people have died in Ted Kennedy’s car than in nuclear power plants”.


15 posted on 03/07/2023 3:17:31 PM PST by MachIV
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To: Telepathic Intruder

The other bumper sticker from that time that relates to your comment was

“A little nukie is good for you”


16 posted on 03/07/2023 3:27:55 PM PST by Oscar in Batangas (An Honors Graduate from the Don Rickles School of Personal Verbal Intercourse)
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To: NohSpinZone

I think the policy is aimed at keeping reconditioned fuel out of the hands of bad actors (think Iran) but France and other countries recondition their fuel (I guess they don’t have any giant holes in the desert) so it’s kind of a futile effort on our part.


17 posted on 03/07/2023 3:36:49 PM PST by RightOnTheBorder
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To: Celerity
in 2020 it was reported that the weight of the structure couldn’t be supported by the clay ground... .. and it was sinking.

something missing here...?

So why didn't engineers start looking for better ground before construction...?

This makes no sense at all....

18 posted on 03/07/2023 3:42:46 PM PST by Victor (If an expert says it can't be done, get another expert." -David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister)
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To: 6ppc
"Read “The Making of the Atomic Bomb” by Richard Rhodes. It won Pulitzer and is on my Top 10 list. I’ve read it 4 times. Pick up something I missed every time."

Is it written in Hebrew or English?

;)

/sarc

19 posted on 03/07/2023 3:43:54 PM PST by Paal Gulli
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To: Tucker39

By saying “us” I am specifying those who are trusting Jesus as their Savior from sin. Everyone else will be on their own. There’s still time to get in on God’s Plan. But don’t procrastinate and miss the offer.


20 posted on 03/07/2023 3:49:28 PM PST by Tucker39 ("It is impossible so to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible." George Washington )
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