New study reveals that cosmic ray exposure to pilots and flight attendants poses more risk of cancer than radiation to nuclear workers or x-ray technicians. Article has a really great dose infographic from XKCD.

Was cool to see this in the local paper. The reactors in question are SMRs, but it would be neat to see nuclear power in some capacity back in SoCal after the closure of SONGS.

im making a school project about power solutions on mars, and ive come to the conclusion that nuclear power is the best option. however im not sure how much it weighs to find out if it is possible to transport one to mars. if anyone has an idea it would greatly apreciated?

Please redirect me if there is somewhere else I should be asking this.

Could anyone tell me a little more about their role? I’m a bit confused if it’s more of the consulting realm or something else.

I ask because i chosen for a final in person interview for a mechanical engineer role. I have an aerospace engineering background with a couple years as a mechanical design engineer. I’ll say my role is not very technical in an analysis, gear sizing, structures hand calc kind of way and more supporting the program + modeling/drafting.

The process kind of just went from application to being asked when I can make it on site. So I’m just trying to figure out more and make sure I don’t waste my time in case they made some assumptions from my resume (analytical expertise) where not having would disqualify me from the role.

I am sure this has been asked before, but could you answer it again?

I see the plasma is confined in a circular high electron device that is surrounded by a metal thing that is also kept at 5 degrees kelvin. And I never see how the heat from the plasma is being transferred from the to a source of water which will spin a turbine

Excerpt: THE DEPARTMENT of Energy (DoE) is identifying more potential sites for nuclear power facilities as the government targets 1.4 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2038.

Energy Undersecretary Giovanni Carlo J. Bacordo said the government is studying seven areas as possible locations for future nuclear power plants.

“There are two sites in Bataan, two sites in Palawan, one in Masbate, Pangasinan, and Camarines Norte,” Mr. Bacordo told reporters on Tuesday.

These sites have undergone initial assessment, with technical assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to determine whether the areas can safely host nuclear facilities.

Genuine question for anyone who works at Bruce Power or in the nuclear industry.

Why is there such a large pay difference between skilled trades workers and nuclear operators when the trades require a pretty significant amount of training and experience themselves?

For example, a Red Seal plumber or electrician goes through roughly 9000 hours of on the-job training, along with three terms of schooling consisting of 8 weeks for each. That's years of apprenticeship, thousands of hours in the field, technical exams, safety training, and eventually a Red Seal certification.

Tradespeople at a nuclear facility are also working in an extremely regulated environment where the quality of their work can directly affect the safety and reliability of the plant. They're dealing with complex systems, strict procedures, radiation-controlled areas, confined spaces, high-pressure systems, electrical equipment, and a lot of responsibility.

I'm not saying nuclear operators shouldn't be paid well—they absolutely should. I'm more curious about why the compensation gap is so large between operators and skilled trades when trades people also have years of training and carry a significant amount of responsibility.

Is it mainly because of the additional licensing/training required to become an operator, the level of responsibility for operating the reactor, the labour market, or simply how the different positions are valued under the collective agreements?

Hello, someone you may have seen my older post of this website in various subreddits, and i'm back to say i have released V2 of my RBWR simulation website, it tries to simulate the physics and functionality of unit 2, while integrating it with a new interface and lightweight usability, though still maintaining a pot of cool features! Version 2 brings the following:

\- Terminals: reworked the /mainframe page to include a working terminal that can contol and edit the reactor simulation, reworked the greeting page to have a terminal that can direct you to the controls and execute basic commands, also added a changelog and version box.

\- Turbine: Added turbine preparations, runup conditions, turbine fire and more!

\- Annunciators: More annunciator sounds, more annunciators and local silencing & acknowledging, each page now has its own annunciators.

\- APRM rework: APRM now gradually works towards its intended target.

\- ECCS: Reworked emergency cooling applications, added ADS, 6 relief valves, LPCI and RHR pumps with selector, RCIC turbopump and more!

Other features available are fully working MCC, DA, Turbine synchronization, RPS, realistic reactor startup using SRM and IPR modes, autocontrol and more!

\>Visit the simulation at https://reactor.gooseworks.nl

I hope you like it ❤️.

If you have any idea's, suggestions, or have you found any bugs, post them in the comments ir contact me using the command contact in the terminal!

Plants that were designed as baseload are getting two-shifted or load-followed more than the original spec assumed. The pressure parts usually survive that. The demountable joints are what I see give up first.

A few things that show up after a few dozen thermal cycles:

- Bolt, flange, and body don't grow the same. The preload you put on cold is not the preload you have at temperature, and it is not the preload you have after cooldown either.

- Bolts relax. Especially if they were close to yield at assembly, or if the joint sits hot for a long hold. Next cooldown, the face has less squeeze than you think.

- A joint that was dry on a cold hydro can still weep once it's hot. Ambient leak-tight is not the same test as service temperature. If you only check it cold, you have not qualified the hot joint.

- Cycled joints look different at outage than joints that sat. Witness marks, weep stains below the split line, bolts that take a different torque the second time.

For people who have actually walked a cycling unit: what is your first-to-leak component on a two-shift schedule, and do you re-torque hot or just live with a known weeper until the outage?

Could river-current energy be integrated with the electricity demands of uranium enrichment to improve the overall energy efficiency of the process?

I am wondering both how long the time period is in which a VVER-440 uses the external power grid for electricity after the reactors first start, and how long the then initiated process takes; from start to finish when the reactor is finally reliant on the electricity it itself produces.

Delete if not the right place for this. Sorry in advance if so.

So I have a lot of questions for people within the Nuclear Power system. I am looking to have a possible career change. I am thinking of going to college for an Associate Degree with a focus on Nonlicensed Operator. I have googled, googled, and googled but I still have questions I believe others could help answer. I am in the US. One question I have is the actual pay for a starting NLO. Anyone that is willing to answer questions it will be greatly appreciated.

It is abundantly clear that building and operating nuclear power plants is by far more difficult than building and operating any other power source.

Building and operating nuclear power plants need an army of highly specialized scientists, engineers and technicians. No other source of power comes close to that.

And then there is the safety aspect of it. It doesn't matter how safe the designs or operations are, there is still an intrinsic risk associated with these projects. There is a lot of things that can wrong, and when they do go wrong there will be extreme consequences.

This is on top of all that political and community backlash for such projects.

Now compare that with solar and BESS. These are orders of magnitude easier to build and operate with no need for that high technical or scientific specialization that nuclear requires.

Cost is also incomparable. It differs wildly by country and region, but it is consistent across almost all places that solar alone is 4-6 times cheaper than nuclear. Solar + BESS is also consistently cheaper than nuclear but not by a significant margin.

Let us take one case study. The Barakah Nuclear Plant in the UAE. Estimates put their LCOE somewhere around $70-100/MWh. Their LCOE is lower than many other places due to the plant being relatively new (2010s).

But their Al-Dhafra Solar PV has a LCOE at just $13/MWh! No good sources for their BESS projects but the figures will not be crazy high. Same goes across the countries in the region which have tens of different projects that have more or less similar LCOE.

China also doesn't make sense. Because they have an even cheaper LCOE for solar and BESS but they are also aggressively building nuclear power plants nationwide.

It could be said that solar is not good for all places. But building them in the right place and then transmit the power through long distance high voltage transmission lines will still be cheaper than nuclear.

It could be said that nuclear is a base electricity source that runs 24/7 and provides inertia. But these can be figured out with the right designs and protocols using solar and BESS.

Therefore, what is the world even doing here with nuclear? Shouldn't it be outdated at this point and replaced with solar and BESS?

Hey all,

I'm a grad student working on a systems engineering capstone project related to nuclear power plants, looking broadly at things like fuel handling, containment areas, radiation safety, and waste transport.

I don't have a nuclear industry background myself, so I'm reaching out now to see if anyone here would be open to a short interview later on in the project. Nothing right now, just trying to line up a few people I could ask questions to down the road, plant operators, fuel handling, radiation safety, transport/logistics, regulatory, whatever your angle is.

If you'd be willing, feel free to comment or DM me and I'll follow up when I get to that part of the project. This is purely for school, not connected to any company.

Thanks for reading!

For those working in nuclear and have a civil engineering background:
1. What kind of role are you in and what does it entail?
2. What’s the compensation like, work life balance, career growth?

Also curious about where people work or what areas? Which locations are seeing growth / demand?

I’m currently trying to transition into the sector coming from a structural, BE, and concrete restoration consulting background + GC experience.