Hanford Nuclear Reservation Tunnel Collapse

[rharshberger]

Some of you who know me have asked about this event where I work.

For those paying attention to the national news about the recent cave-in of a railroad tunnel on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation there is better info than what the new gives here:https://www.hanford.gov/c.cfm/eoc/?page=290 and a video of the repair work going on here [video=youtube;ev5lu6xya5s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev5lu6xya5s[/video]

Many of the individuals working in the videos are co-workers and friends of mine. While the incident is serious, it is not threatening to the local populace as it is 25 miles north of any large population centers, and any radioactivity is not of the airborne dust type. I personally was off work for recovery from surgery for the next few weeks and so was not actually involved.

Edit: there are multiple videos on that YouTube channel, Hanford Plateau.

 

[Bat-mite]

Glad everyone is okay. Where nuclear power is concerned, I suppose one "woops" wipes out 1,000,000,000,000 "attaboys."

 

[modeltrains]

there is better info than what the new gives here:https://www.hanford.gov/c.cfm/eoc/?page=290

Appreciate it. Glad people are okay.

 

[rharshberger]

Glad everyone is okay. Where nuclear power is concerned, I suppose one "woops" wipes out 1,000,000,000,000 "attaboys."

This stuff wasnt nuclear power, it was nuclear weapons material production and processing. Atomic materials weren't well understood or delt/disposed of during Cold War Era the 1940s thru 1970s making them and making them better was more important, and now we are cleaning up the mess and will be for many more years.

Nuclear power is well understood and very safe. Its even more eco friendly than people think.

 

[Daddyisabar]

Don't worry, in 30 years no one will remember and the scare will fade. Just drove through Rocky Flats area Northwest of Denver and they are building houses like crazy in the "plume area" from all the reported and unreported incidents in the 50's and 60's. Prime developmental real estate! Not just for launching rockets or flying RC anymore. They are now even discretely digging up some of the old shafts where all the fire retardant went down. Have heard stories of private death bed confessions from former workers, but they are all dead now so build away. What is the chance of getting a tiny particle in your lung out on the rocky flats? Chances are I will be killed by a model rocket before that happens.

Locally the old Shaddock radium site is now a light rail station with apartments next door. Silly turn of the century glow watch dials! Three Mile Island is just a memory. It can all be cleaned up **** and span; as long as it is not classified Level 7 all is well.

 

[rstaff3]

Glad there are no injuries. Seems a little odd they appear to be filling the hole but there is no mention of repairing the support structure. I would hope the internal structure is inspected and possible maintained before there is another cave in. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[rharshberger]

Rant deleted

 

[rharshberger]

Glad there are no injuries. Seems a little odd they appear to be filling the hole but there is no mention of repairing the support structure. I would hope the internal structure is inspected and possible maintained before there is another cave in. Maybe I'm missing something.

All these facilities are to be Demobilized, Decommisioned, and Demolished, bandaids will be applied continously until that time.

 

[aerostadt]

I worked in the nuclear power industry for many years. I always thought and still do think that it is a good electric power alternative. Even Obama advocated for it on several occasions. The industry is always under attack by those that want to end this option once and for all.

 

[rharshberger]

I worked in the nuclear power industry for many years. I always thought and still do think that it is a good electric power alternative. Even Obama advocated for it on several occasions. The industry is always under attack by those that want to end this option once and for all.

I concur fully, I grew up in areas that had operating nuc plants most of my life (mostly TN.), hopefully the Small Modular Reactor system catches on. While the waste products are long lived they are also very small in quantity, and fuel can be recycled several times before become total waste. Coal Fired plants create mountains of ash and release carbon into the air (new plants a not so bad on the carbon footprint), dams slow rivers and cause problems for fish and birds, windmills require lots and lots of acreage (from my home I can see them stretching several directions for many miles and the nearest one is 10 miles away, those things are huge), while they may not have any emissions issues they pollute the scenery visually.

 

[dhbarr]

Still irritated we never got Black Fox here in Oklahoma. Instead we ship our dirty coal overseas and burn trainsful from Wyoming. At least the gas is local.

 

[rstaff3]

All these facilities are to be Demobilized, Decommisioned, and Demolished, bandaids will be applied continously until that time.

I guess what is missing is the long term plan. Thanks for the reply.

 

[rharshberger]

I guess what is missing is the long term plan. Thanks for the reply.

Its a very long plan since some of the facilities are still very "hot" radioactively and need years to "cool" down.

 

[modeltrains]

windmills require lots and lots of

Balsa wood.

https://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2...ombs-mimic-material-performance-of-balsa-wood

For centuries, the fast-growing balsa tree has been prized for its light weight and stiffness relative to density. But balsa wood is expensive and natural variations in the grain can be an impediment to achieving the increasingly precise performance requirements of turbine blades and other sophisticated applications.

As turbine makers produce ever-larger blades—the longest now measure 75 meters, almost matching the wingspan of an Airbus A380 jetliner—they must be engineered to operate virtually maintenance-free for decades. In order to meet more demanding specifications for precision, weight, and quality consistency, manufacturers are searching for new sandwich construction material options.

https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/...eloped-for-WInd-Turbine-Blades-286518311.html

CAMBRIDGE, MA – An essential lumber product tucked inside the blades of sleek massive wind turbines is experiencing spot shortages of supply: Balsa wood.

The lightweight wood is used to build sandwich panel construction that combines light weight and strength. Turbine blades contain arrays of balsa wood strips, much of it sourced from Ecuador, which supplies 95 percent of the world’s demand.

For centuries, the fast-growing balsa tree has been prized for its light weight and stiffness relative to density. But balsa wood is expensive. Natural variations in the wood grain can be an impediment in increasingly precise performance requirements of turbine blades

related,
https://www.ewea.org/blog/2012/12/new-wind-turbine-blade-designs-could-reduce-costs/

The entire blade is poured as a single piece made of glass fibre-reinforced epoxy resin and balsa wood, meaning the final product has neither seams nor bonded joints and is extremely robust. At the same time, the blade weighs 20 per cent less than conventionally produced blades through the use of specially designed blade profiles that are also shaped to deliver maximum rotor performance at a range of different wind speeds. Whereas the first wind turbines generated 30 kilowatts and had five-meter-long rotor blades, the latest turbines can produce six megawatts of power, extols Siemens.
GE, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech),and the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), believe their plans could put wind energy on an equal economic footing with traditional fossil fuels. They want to create an advanced wind blade using architectural fabrics, which would be wrapped around a metal frame, resembling a fishbone. The fabric would be tensioned around the ribs which run the length of the blade and are specially designed to meet the demands of wind blade operations. Conventional wind blades are constructed out of fibreglass, which is heavier and more labour and time-intensive to manufacture. This new blade design could reduce blade costs by 25-40 per cent, making wind energy as economical as fossil fuels without government subsidies, says GE.

But it is not just the big companies that investing in wind blade technology. A Tunisian start-up company called Saphon Energy has designed a wind-capturing device that eschews the windmill form factor in favour of a simple disc-shaped sail that catches and dances in the breeze. Meanwhile, in an effort to reduce waste and improve recyclability, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) has given $1.9 million to the University of Massachusetts and the University of Wichita to investigate whether a form of bio-based plastic made from soybean, linseed and other vegetable oils, plus cellulose fibres, could form the next generation of blades.

 

[rharshberger]

Balsa wood.

https://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2...ombs-mimic-material-performance-of-balsa-wood


https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/...eloped-for-WInd-Turbine-Blades-286518311.html


related,
https://www.ewea.org/blog/2012/12/new-wind-turbine-blade-designs-could-reduce-costs/

Yep, that too!

 

[rharshberger]

Heres an interesting Myths, Mistakes and Mis-Information, its from my local Nuc Power Generating Station, but much of it applies all over.

https://www.energy-northwest.com/ourenergyprojects/Columbia/Pages/Myths.aspx

 

[Q-Aero]

Nuclear power is well understood and very safe. Its even more eco friendly than people think.

Yes very eco friendly

 

[rharshberger]

Yes very eco friendly

View attachment 319828

Mining however not so much.

 

[RIB]

Identifying a problem without proposing a solution is just whining.