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 PlantExplorer
 
Location: middle TN
Gender: Male
 |  | Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
< on 7/2/2008 7:50 PM >
|  | | | Alright, so here's my second set of photos from the recent trip I took. These are some of the shots I took on the outside of the plant. Vehicles would come and go now and then, but my friend and I would just wave, smile, and be completely disregarded. The site has a TVA training facility nearby which is where most of the people come and go from.
1) Walking towards the plant, the cooling towers and reactor vessels stand proudly above the treeline.
2) Old high-tension lines cover the landscape around the plant. I don't know if they carry any current or not, honestly. The reactors are dormant, but the place burns a lot of power.
3) Even around the plant, the fence is so flimsy any self-respecting calf could push his way through. In some places, it looks like one already has. This section doesn't lead anywhere, but there are other sections down that allow access to much more intriguing areas.
4) The parking lot is empty and overgrown in front of the sleeping beast, but the American flag still waves proudly from the flagpole. The juxtaposition is striking.
5) This is the vehicle entrance, where staff and construction vehicles enter and leave the site. We saw a single truck go through the whole time we were there.
6) I don't believe this entrance has been used in a while... The newer-looking sign on the right side tells visitors to call a phone number. I did, and the lady on the other end informed me that while she would love to give me a tour of the plant, there were only two or three people on the site and absolutely no security, so she wasn't able to. Gosh, what a darned shame. Oh well.
7) Back in the day, I'm sure this shack controlled entry and exit to the south side of the facility. The guards are long gone and have been replaced by nests of wasps. I'm not sure which I'd be more afraid of, honestly.
8) There's a rail line leading toward and past the cooling towers that splits here at this rusted-out switch. I highly doubt there's been a train on these tracks since 1988.
9) Cooling towers are huge. Monumentally huge. Preposterously huge. Note the crane truck being dwarfed by this thing.
10) Up close, you can look up and see the radiators that would eventually be used to cool the water flowing from the reactor. These days, they're merely home to pigeons and a hawk or two.
11) The catch-ponds on the underside of the towers contained about an inch of water or so.
12) And this is where the water would be pumped out during operation. It gets relatively deep near the pipes.
13) Here's a better shot of the cranes. They're not there in the google maps/earth image of the place, so they've got to be somewhat recent, though the cobwebs inside them and the sun-bleached license plates assure me they're not *too* recent. Also of note, the grass was mowed to about an inch and a half tall. TVA obviously maintains the place at least a little bit.
14) Did I mention these cooling towers were huge? Even the distant water tower is dwarfed by these things.
15) Exhaust ports for... Something. I dunno.
16) Goodbye, facility. I took this photo on the way out. This gate constitutes the closest thing to "security" I could find on the premises, and it remains wide open to through-traffic during business hours. It was open when we walked in, but closed and locked when we left.
So there you go. Hell of a place to spend the afternoon. I managed to get righteously sunburned out there too, so next time I'll be taking sunscreen for sure!
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nutekk
     
Location: Central NJ
Gender: Male
| |  | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 1 on 7/3/2008 1:19 AM >
| | | | damn it's about time i finally get to see some decent pix of this place. it's been on my must see list of places if i get the time to travel.
so how about interiors ??
cheers !
" Take only pictures, leave only footprints" |
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Rankine Cycle
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
| | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 2 on 7/3/2008 2:03 AM >
| | | | Yep, $4.6 billion spent, very nearly complete, but never made a single watt. The reason you are able to wonder around, get close, almost get a tour etc, is that she never went critical.
There is talk of completion and of course modernization to possibly get her online in 2016 or so....
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tholcomb
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Gender: Male
Captain Baghead!
| | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 3 on 7/3/2008 6:05 AM >
| | | | You're going to get shot with an M-16. lol.
Seriously though, TVA police have M-16s.
My friend's dad works for them & he brought his home and cleaned it one day.
I think I might call about that tour, or e-mail somebody.
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Martino
Location: Almere - NL
Gender: Male
2,5 days 5691 km, 1200 cigarettes, 131 beers, 67 locations, 3 girs and 2 cars! I absolutely rule!
| | | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 4 on 7/3/2008 11:06 AM >
| | | | what a great place to be! And no guards! That's almost to good to be true - what's the catch here? M-16? 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/martino_ |
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billbixby
Location: eastern los angeles county
Gender: Male
| | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 5 on 7/3/2008 12:14 PM >
|  | | | this place is amazing.
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Paranoid?
Gender: Male
F/RoX FTMFW
| |  | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 6 on 7/3/2008 12:20 PM >
| | | | and all you use to hear was how "Sketchy" this place is.
not sure if I'd wander down that back road too far, nearby.
"Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives... stop thinking and go in."
- Napoleon Bonaparte |
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NAN
 
Location: rochester NY
bathroom expert
| | | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 7 on 7/3/2008 12:37 PM >
| | | | That is a great location!
Through the darkness of future's past
The magician longs to see
Once chants out between two worlds Fire, walk with me |
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argonian
Location: Toronto, ON
Gender: Female
"Now with added cats!"
| | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 8 on 7/3/2008 12:48 PM >
| | | | Amazing.
Que pasa, baby? |
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btoast
| | | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 9 on 7/3/2008 1:20 PM >
| | | | excellent pics and location
Dream as if you'll live forever.
Live as if you'll die today. |
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willskith
Location: Boston, MA
Gender: Male
| | | | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 10 on 7/3/2008 1:52 PM >
| | | | this place is great
get in or die trying i wanna see the insides
grit your teeth in the face of fear. self repression is the true sign of a coward, toss your inhibitions to the wind. |
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Rankine Cycle
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
| | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 11 on 7/3/2008 9:31 PM >
| | | | Posted by tholcomb
You're going to get shot with an M-16. lol.
Seriously though, TVA police have M-16s.
My friend's dad works for them & he brought his home and cleaned it one day.
I think I might call about that tour, or e-mail somebody.
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Every single nuclear power station in the country has armed guards now, not just TVA. And usually they carry an AR-15 and also a pistol and taser.
Even a good amount of the large coal fired stations now have armed guards.
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PlantExplorer
Location: middle TN
Gender: Male
| | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 12 on 7/4/2008 12:44 AM >
| | | | I researched the site for roughly three weeks before I went, including making calls to local law enforcement, TVA law enforcement and TVA media relations (trying to get in to look around with an acceptable cover story). I've got a pretty good idea of the general history of the plant, and did make sure that it was radioactive-materials-free (certified in 1992). Looking at the electronics cabinets inspection tags, most of which also date from 1992 or before, I'd say that most of the place hasn't seen human life since that point. It's on TVA's list of sites to modernize in their Nuclear Power 2010 plan; they're thinking of plopping two new 1000mw Westinghouse 4th Gen PWRs in there. They have yet to get approval, so fingers crossed it takes them a while.
As for security, there literally wasn't any. No TVA police with AR-15s or M-16s. No TVA police at all. I saw what looked like four-wheeler tracks going between the plant and the water pumping station which may have been from a security patrol, but I saw no security while I was there, and nobody at all after the gates closed. Even the people I talked to over the phone on site said there was no security there and wouldn't be any for months.
As for the interiors, I'll post part 3/3 here in a few days.
edit: actually, there were some security cameras in the lobby, but I don't know if they still worked, or if anybody monitored them. There were no cameras around the outside.
[last edit 7/4/2008 12:52 AM by PlantExplorer - edited 1 times]
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Steed
Location: Edmonton/Seoul
Gender: Male
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Race Traitor
| | | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 13 on 7/4/2008 3:48 AM >
| | | | I'm speechless.
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RhoXS
Location: Florida
Gender: Male
| | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 14 on 7/4/2008 4:32 AM >
| | | | I have seen the news articles that TVA is looking in to completing the Bellafonte plant and Watts Bar Unit 2. For the following reasons, I think it is unlikely this will ever happen.
With enough money anything can be done. However, I do not believe the TVA will find that it is economically feasible to complete construction of the plant. I think it will be necessary to replace almost every piece of installed equipment. All equipment associated with either preventing an accident or mitigating the consequences of an accident is referred to as "safety related" and probably cannot be economically requalified. This includes almost everything (piping and associated snubbers/supports, instrumentation, electrical switchgear/inverters/chargers/cables/etc., instrumentation, large motors, pumps, HVAC systems, valves, station batteries, welds, seals/gaskets, etc.) associated with the reactor, steam generators, and main steam lines. Huge components of the Nuclear Steam Supply System like the steam generators, reactor vessel, associated piping, and steam lines have probably not been kept in "wet layup" or maintained under precisely controlled environmental conditions. All this equipment has lost its cradle to grave trail of paper work by being left idle without any surveillance testing or maintenance (so I have heard), to say nothing of shelf life issues. Bringing the design of the plant up to current standards also adds to the cost of recommissioning it. However, since this plant is a post TMI & Browns Ferry (fire) design this problem may not be all that bad. It is a significant and difficult challenge maintaining an operating plant qualified, let alone an idle plant with minimal or no maintenance.
I am also skeptical that it is reasonable to rebuild it using a "1000mw Westinghouse 4th Gen PWR". These plants are also referred to as AP1000s. They differ from existing plants in two major and very significant ways. They use an oversize reactor core and pressurizer vessel to reduce maximum fuel temperatures and build in significantly more tolerance for transients. They also use passive safety systems that require no consequential electrical power. Circa 1985, I attended a W presentation for an AP600 where they claimed the only need for emergency diesel generators was "so no one would trip in the stairwells". The gravity drain safety injection system and unique containment design (the shell itself is used as an emergency decay heat heat exchanger) means the design of the existing containment structures probably cannot be reused.
In other words, I suspect, in the end, TVA will come to the conclusion it makes better business sense to start from scratch. The Bellafonte site has the big advantage of already being licensed for two nukes but this may not be enough to offset everything else. My guess, if they do anything, they will tear down everything but the turbine building (secondary plant) and Reactor Auxiliary Building (RAB ) and then rebuild, from scratch, the containment buildings. The interior of the RAB will be gutted and all new equipment, cables, etc. will be installed.
Just thought I would offer an opinion. I have been in the nuclear industry for a long time and I have seen many things happen that I would not have predicted. Sometimes other factors, like government incentives, insurance, arcane accounting practices, etc. influence the final decision, so who knows?
[last edit 7/4/2008 11:52 AM by RhoXS - edited 3 times]
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PlantExplorer
Location: middle TN
Gender: Male
| | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 15 on 7/4/2008 9:11 PM >
| | | | From what I read and saw, the new reactors would be built in new containment buildings, leaving the other two unfinished ones, well, unfinished. This is backed up by the fact that the new reactors will be called units 3 and 4, rather than 1 and 2. I believe they're also going to reuse the completed cooling towers, though I don't know for sure. Thanks for the informed commentary!
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Speed
Location: Philly area
Gender: Male
Retired Explorer
| | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 16 on 7/4/2008 9:38 PM >
| | | | Posted by PlantExplorer
As for security, there literally wasn't any. No TVA police with AR-15s or M-16s. No TVA police at all.
edit: actually, there were some security cameras in the lobby, but I don't know if they still worked, or if anybody monitored them. There were no cameras around the outside.
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I'm willing to bet that once this thread/photos cross the right(or wrong, depending on how you look at it) people's desk all that will change.
pretty cool location, kickass...actually!
R.I.P. NickSan | R.I.P. Don Corleyone |
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Rankine Cycle
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
| | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 17 on 7/5/2008 2:39 AM >
| | | | Rhoxs exactly. They will not re-use one scrap of the NSSS side of the plant. If they do go through with it, they would only re-use the turbine building, turbines, generators, condensers, non NSSS BOP equipment, the cooling towers, the switchyard, GSU's etc. Still quite a bit cheaper than starting from scratch, and the site itself already makes it easier....
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RhoXS
Location: Florida
Gender: Male
| | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 18 on 7/5/2008 1:35 PM >
| | | | Plant Explorer, I meant to thank you for the pics of the inside of the cooling towers. Even though I have worked in nuclear plants for over 30 years, and probably have been in most every place there is to be at one time or another, I have never been inside a cooling tower. All the plants I have been associated with use natural bodies of water for cooling and have not used the so called hyperbolic cooling towers. Your pictures were especially interesting to me.
BTW, these towers do not cool water that comes even close to the reactor. The water passing through the towers is not at all radioactive and is nothing more than treated fresh water. The overwhelming majority of the water cooled by these natural draft towers cools the condenser that condenses the exhaust steam from the turbine. A small, but very important, amount of the water cooled by these towers cools two other closed loop cooling systems. One (TPCW) cools equipment in the secondary (turbine) plant such as the generator hydrogen coolers, pump seals, etc. The other (CCW) cools equipment associated with the primary plant (nuclear steam supply system) such as emergency or residual heat heat exchangers, pump seals, containment internal air coolers, etc.
The pictures from the TMI event made a strong association in the public's mind between hyperbolic cooling towers and nuclear plants. The reality is that these towers are an economical method of cooling large amounts of water where a natural water body is not available either due to location or environmental restrictions. They are much more commonly used at many non nuclear facilities.
[last edit 7/5/2008 3:47 PM by RhoXS - edited 2 times]
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ScreenAce
Location: Atlanta
Gender: Male
| | | Re: Exploration Part 2: Facility Exterior
<Reply # 19 on 7/13/2008 8:27 PM >
| | | | Posted by PlantExplorer
So there you go. Hell of a place to spend the afternoon. I managed to get righteously sunburned out there too, so next time I'll be taking sunscreen for sure!
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Sunburned? I hope it was only the sun! <Actually, great job on the research prior to exploring - no radiation.> Awesome site! me envious...
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