h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

[Background]
Back in the heyday of the budding nuclear power industry, engineers were vying for the best design with the best safeguards, in an easily reproducible plant configuration. This effort was labeled SNUPPS (Standard Nuclear Utility Power Plant System), and the DOE and the NRC authorized a group of five “cookie cutter” plants to be built. The utilities had broken ground and were in the midst of building two of them (Callaway Plant and Wolf Creek) when the Three Mile Island disaster happened. The immediate lessons learned from that debacle caused a number of safety modifications to the SNUPPS plants, which added a tremendous burden to the overall cost. Thus, only two of the five were ever commissioned.
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The building layouts, floor plans, pipe runs, electrical and signal cable traces, and all functional systems were identical for the sites. Therefore, if you were to visit Wolf Creek and then visit Callaway Plant, you could easily navigate because of the similarities. There are only minor differences in paint schemes that would remind you that you’re at a different plant. Even the elevations listed for the buildings and floors are identical, though for Callaway they are not the true elevations above sea level, as they are for Wolf Creek. Our 2000’ level (ground level) is about 580 feet above sea level. Since Wolf Creek was engineered first, Callaway took all its plans and stamped them onto the local landscape. The oddest part is that, in order to situate the plant within the environment, everything had to be rotated about 167º. For this reason, we have to remember to refer to “Plant North”, versus the actual compass “True North” in reference to the locations of all plant systems.

In light of the elevations, there are several levels of access within our Reactor Building. The four main floor areas and platforms are on the 2000’, the 2026’, the 2047’, and the 2068’ levels. We typically enter through the Personnel Hatch (a two door isolation tunnel) on the 2047’ level about the Plant 210º position. {Anyone who may have read my Industrial Strength Haiku (A2436310) might be interested to know I first conceived them while acting as an entry guard outside that hatch.} There is an elevator at the Plant 45º position to reach the other levels, with several stairwells located around the perimeter. The 2000’ level has an Emergency Personnel Hatch, whilst the 2047’ level has the main Equipment Hatch where we transport most all our equipment into / out of the Reactor Building. It has a convex disc-shaped inner door that slides into place from above the circular opening, and a large square external missile shield (think projectiles in a storm situation) that is trolleyed into place along the outside of the cement dome structure.
[/Background]

For the past several months, I have been tasked with babysitting a project to fabricate and install an RB Hatch Transfer Cart. Its purpose is to move humongous equipment such as 20'-long SeaLand boxes into / out of the Reactor Building. Our engineers started designing it before last Refuel Outage, over eighteen months ago. Just before Refuel 14, we had a new Stair Tower built to give more space on the Platform deck and to withstand greater loads. Another contractor installed a freight elevator so we could move rolling tool boxes and smaller equipment up to the Hatch more easily than rigging and lifting with a massive crane. [Side note: No one ever really checked if the elevator worked. When the question came up two months ago, we found it didn’t work. We’ve been scrambling ever since to get a contractor to fix it, since the original vendor flat-out told us we could stand in line behind their more important clients.]

Anyway, it’s been since last Outage that anything got done on the project for the Hatch Transfer Cart (HTC). In January, we Laydown Coordinators were told about the need for the HTC and a set of Ramps to place inside the RB Hatch. The more talk there was on the subject of the HTC and the Ramps, the more questions arose. Specifically, when would we start fabricating it and could we expect delivery before RF15 started? The situation looked pretty grim because the engineer in charge had a tendency to wait on others to take action, instead of pushing the project along.

I started taking a more active role in chasing down info on the HTC and the Ramps and realized no paperwork had yet been started to order the items. They’d been designed, but no formal request had left our Plant to have anything built. This made me squirm, since I know it takes time to do that, and we had a scant two months to get it accomplished. I got in contact with the local company that was supposed to be in charge of the fabrication and found out they hadn’t received a Purchase Order. So, I badgered the engineers to kick out the necessary paperwork. I found the Ramps needed to be done by another vendor, since the one making the HTC doesn’t weld aluminum. I had to learn how to generate a Bill of Material (with the help of our Material Controllers) with exacting specifications and dimensions, as well as providing several vendors to choose from. I traced back the company that would supply the End Trucks (motorized wheeled rails) to the local vendor who would weld our Reactor Coolant Pump motor stand to the End Trucks, only to find they hadn’t been given the nod to ship them! I had to work everything from the bottom of the chain, through a middle-man company, back up to the supplier to ensure the “Go Ahead” was formalized.

The End Trucks finally shipped, but experienced delays, so I had to call the carrier company to find the shipment and keep it moving. We experienced another set of delays because the engineers changed some specs for the local vendor fabricating the HTC. Also, I found out the Resistor Bank supplied to drive the motor / brake assembly was for ‘indoor’ applications, so I had to work back through the chain to ensure we got the ‘outdoor’ model furnished to the local guys. Another change from the engineers entailed purchasing a Retractable Take-Up Reel for the power cable to the HTC. We had mentioned something like that early on in our discussions but the engineer never ordered it. Guess who had to order it. Yeah.

Not only riding herd on the fabrication of the HTC and Ramps, I also had to work with our Planners and our Schedulers to have power cables fabricated on-site and to schedule crane lifts for the HTC pre-Outage and for use during RF15. We got to a point where we took a ‘field trip’ to the local vendor to check on their progress and were pleasantly surprised by how they’d constructed the Cart. We hammered out a few more minor details (such as paint color, position of the cable connections, and stenciling) and left them to finish it. About a week later, we went back to witness a test run of the functions and a Load Test, to see if it would handle 50 tons. It was amazing to see the HTC piled high with huge rectangles of sheet metal! We ran it backwards and forwards (the only movement functions needed) and noted it never jerked the load. The gearing and clutching of the motors makes every start smooth and every stop a gentle coast to a standstill. We even tested the 'manual labor, last-ditch effort' by declutching the motors and used eight of us to physically push it. Not fast, but it moved.

We received all the rest of the parts one week before our Refuel Outage was due to kick off. I’ve since been in constant negotiations with the Ironworkers, the Electricians, and the Operators of the Crane, in order to get this thing finished. The Ironworkers had to move and cut the grating to either side of the rails on the Stair Tower Platform that lead into the Reactor Building. That’s so the HTC wheels don’t impinge upon the grating as it rolls in and out of the RB Hatch. This portal is about 50 feet in the air, on the Platform that provides the working surface for entry and egress of large equipment items. There is a nominal difference of 4-1/2 inches between the Platform outside, down to the interior floor. Thus, the Ramps were built to have two small checker deck platforms sit between the rails just inside the Hatch, and two sloping plates to the right to allow our folks to roll tool boxes and the like right in from the Platform. I’ve chased after the Electricians over the course of three full shifts to install the Control Box and the Retractable Take-Up Reel on the Platform. They finally got moving on it, only four days away from Outage start. All they needed to do was mount both items on the handrails and make the power cable connections, probably about two to three hours work, maximum.

At the end of my day (and my wits), the electrical connections still had not been completed. I talked to the on-coming Electrical Lead and he told me of his crew's taskings, but agreed to get it done early in the night shift. He also suggested I talk to one of our own Craft Leads to get the priority bumped up. When I did so, the situation almost became tense. I tried to stress the importance of getting this project done; he tried to stress the workload the contractors were facing. There was a lot of ‘stress’ going on. We parted with his suggestion I take the matter up with his department head, if I expected the tasks to move forward in the schedule. I managed to get face-to-face with the Manager after a meeting and we kept the discussion a little ‘lighter’ than the one I’d had with the Craft Lead. The Manager stated he’d talked the situation over with his Lead, as well, and they found they could accommodate the work on the morrow. We made a gentleman’s agreement it would get done, and I now feel confident it will. We shall see tomorrow…

B4ithinktwiceaboutdoingthisnexttimetheopportunityarises

Absolutely fascinating. I think you are very talented, as well. Your employers should worship you.

Fattery will get you anywhere, Lil.

B4itellofthelatestdebacle

"Flattery"...FLATTERY...gor!...f-l-a-t-t-e-r-y...

Sometimes, the gentlemen's agreement between the actual folks involved goes so much further, and productively, than any number of high-level meetings and such, eh? In all, it sounds like the kind of times that call for a very tall brandy when it's all said and done.

Tonight, I ~will~ have a good brew to settle the matter...at least until tomorrow. The commitment is now to have the work done on the Night Shift...

B4idropbackin2seehowthingsaregoingatoptheplatformwiththestarsabove

I've just spent 2 days performing a small field modification to a bit of radio stuff. About 65 miles from here. But the upshot of it will have me away from home no less than 5 times, each needing atleast 2 - 3 weeks. AND the entire shut-down of military radio transmitter sites. As you can imagine, to persuade and then co-ordinate such stuff is going to take some high-level talks. And a couple of us lesser-persons co-ordinating the real-world stuff.

Dear B4.

I read a bit and then wondered whether all the information I was reading about could be regarded as "classified"?

Two days ago a guy came round and asked me if I would agree to be interviewed on "Energy"

It soon came to nuclear energy.

What is happening?

Regards

AlsoRan1

Dear B4.

I read a bit and then wondered whether all the information I was reading about could be regarded as "classified"?

Two days ago a guy came round and asked me if I would agree to be interviewed on "Energy"

It soon came to nuclear energy.

What is happening?

Regards

AlsoRan1

Dear AlsoRan1,

I was particularly sensitive to leave out anything that one couldn't find in the public domain. Perhaps the degree locations of the hatches were too specific, but the rest is basic info about any nuclear power plant.

The other stuff is my personal experience trying to "push a rope", as it were. I've been in supervisory positions before, but here, working with Union craft, is sometimes more of a challenge than anything I've encountered. Mind you now, I am also a Union employee; I've simply volunteered for the position of Laydown Coordinator for the duration of the Refuel Outage. After it's over, I go back to being a Plant Helper, which entails basic porter and laborer duties. Maybe somewhere down the line the Management here will offer a posting I could step into, though I won’t hold my breath waiting.

I am intrigued that a survey agency would approach people in the general public to figure out their perception of the nation’s energy needs. Not surprised, just intrigued. It seems someone’s trying to hedge their bets on how to broach the subject of building new reactors, enough to supply the grid to keep abreast or ahead of the growing population and power consumption. Perhaps I’m biased because I work here, yet I see these type plants as a better investment and much less of a bane to the ecology of our planet than fossil fuel plants. As was noted on Lil’s Atelier thread, Post 365, by Peripatetic Warrior Monk (F38024?thread=3995002&post=47097566#p47097566), there are still too many people bound up in running those type power plants and there’s still money to be made, so we shouldn’t expect them to ‘just go away’, even if they’re not as efficient or as environmentally friendly. We can still believe for innovations in cold fusion, with a resulting shift to a wide-scale implementation of that technology. Then I’ll have to go market myself for a whole new job.

Dear Rev Nick,

I’m curious. Are you currently a GS employee or a contractor? I noted from you PS that you spent 21 years in the military. I’m supposing it was in a radio electronics career field. I’ve worked shoulder-to-shoulder with shortwave, wideband, microwave, and satellite troops during my years as a ‘Ground Mobile-Tactical’ telephone switch and computer maintainer. Gosh, those were some of the best days of my life. Lots of responsibility, challenging assignments, great camaraderie! Sometimes I miss the lifestyle, though the pay is better now where I work.

B4iputontheoldblueuniform&standB4amirror&reminisce

Thanks B4 for your explication.

Iam no wiser, but I hope everyone else is like me!!

btw I believe that we should do as the French have done and build marvellous nuclear power stations which are providers of Clean energy.

After all I think theirs have been going for well over 35 years. They know how to build them as well.

Regards

Also Ran1

If by "GS" you mean a public servant/government employee, then no. I work for a company that has been contracted to provide a number of aircraft and electronics support services. For me, it's essentially the same work that I did while wearing the uniform, and with quite a lot of the same people. Mind you, the ranking folks now are often ones that I trained 10, 20 or more years ago.

I know nothing really about nuclear power systems beyond the basic workings of the CANDU reactors. There is one not far from where I grew, and many folks I grew with have made their livings there. Including one brother who just retired with a tidy pension after 32 years as a chemical operator in the heavy-water plant.