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Craig
02-09-2003, 04:22 PM
Check out this trailer, 34 axles, 8 tires per axle :) This steam generator weighs about 1000 tons and the whole deal topped out at the mind numbing speed of 4 mph!
http://free.***boat.net/ubb/Avatars/Forum_Graphic_Depot/sg2.JPG
[ February 09, 2003, 04:22 PM: Message edited by: Craig ]

Jordy
02-09-2003, 05:03 PM
Was that one of the generators going out to the plants south of Palo Verde?
All three of those jobs are unreal. I was out there one day and they were stringing power lines with a helicopter. Way cool. :D

Craig
02-09-2003, 06:15 PM
Yeah, that's what they're for, each reactor has two of these. The original steam generators started getting too many leaking tubes due to chemistry and design issues. We just ordered the generators for Units 3 and 1. The Unit 2 outage will cost a 100 million dollars, but the increased efficiency and megawatts we'll get out of the new generators must make up for the original cost. We start the Unit 2 outage at the end of Sept. and go to Dec. Just in time for the Parade of Lights!
[ February 09, 2003, 06:16 PM: Message edited by: Craig ]

Donnie
02-09-2003, 06:39 PM
Great pic Craig....thats what I call some BIG iron eek!

Craig
02-09-2003, 06:54 PM
Hey dum bass, where ya' been all freakin weekend? :D

Donnie
02-09-2003, 07:01 PM
Lets see...had to work yesterday because of idiots :mad:
Had to work today becuase of idiots :mad:
Luckily got home in time to see the drags :D

rrrr
02-09-2003, 07:29 PM
Here's a couple more photos I found- is this the same plant?
Hoisting steam generators (http://www.pschl.co.uk/pdfs/POW03Ringhalsnuclear.pdf)
Fagioli does some of the toughest hoisting and rigging jobs in the world....

Craig
02-10-2003, 06:44 AM
rrrr, no that plant's in Sweden. Our generators are sitting under some big freakin' canopies right now until the Fall. They will be hoisted into Containment more or less the same way as the pic's you linked to as soon as the old ones are cut out and put in their new storage building. Lot's of piping and shield walls that have to be removed and then replaced. Bechtel will be doing our major hoisting work.
Those things took 18 days to get from Rocky Point to the plant! They only traveled at night to minimze the impact on traffic. They had to buy land in Rocky Point, build a dock, redo a lot of the roads and bridges and remove the roof on the crossing building at the border.

rrrr
02-10-2003, 07:25 AM
Duh! Says it's Sweden right on top of the page. Must have been late when I wrote that, LOL.
Interesting that they just whack a hole in the side of the containment structure. Seems it would difficult to repair and regain the original structural integrity.
So the steam generator, is it actually the part that the fuel rods are suspended in? I need to look for a website that gives some detail about nuke plants, I'm kinda interested in a schematic overview of the process.
[ February 10, 2003, 07:40 AM: Message edited by: rrrr ]

TOBTEK
02-10-2003, 08:17 AM
so if you need a trailer like that just to get it there, how large is the crane that gets it off that trailer eek!

Craig
02-10-2003, 02:12 PM
rrrr,
Actually that huge "hole" is designed into the plants when they're built, called the "equipment hatch". It's used every refueling outage to move a butt load of tools, equipment and scaffolding in and out to complete normal maintenance that can only be done when the reactor is shut down. It's covered by a pair of huge 3-foot thick reenforced concrete "doors" on the outside and a huge steel disc (looks like a big damn Frisbee) on the inside. We have an 8' high personel airlock inside the unit to allow workers in and out.
Those steam generators are nothing but big heat exchangers, just like your oil cooler! In a Pressurized Water Reactor like Palo Verde, The nuclear fuel is in the reactor vessel. 4 big reactor coolant pumps run water through the vessel picking up heat from the nuclear reaction. The water goes to the bottom of each of the 2 steam generators which has big u-tubes. Goes in, up, back down the other side of the divider plate and back to the pump for another trip through the core (vessel) "Clean" water is recirculated on the other side of the tubes. That water heats up and makes steam, which is dried and then piped over to the turbine to make power. Real basic stuff. Here's a link with a little more detail, http://www.posse.net/pveplan.htm Sounds like the guy who owns this page works in my department, yet I have no idea who it is! A lot of the pic's have been removed since 9/11 though :(
Tobtek, big freakin crane eek! This fall I'll get some pics of the whole deal.
Craig
[ February 10, 2003, 02:13 PM: Message edited by: Craig ]

rrrr
02-10-2003, 02:48 PM
Got it. So there is a recirculating loop through the reactor that transfers heat in the generator.
I liked this paragraph: "The fuel removed from a nuclear power plant is stored underwater at the power plant site in large concrete vaults lined with stainless steel. Eventually, this used fuel will be transported to a federal government facility for disposal deep underground."
Eventually means when people pull their heads outta their ass and realize it's gotta go somewhere. The transport containers are completely safe, and the vitrified waste is a hell of a lot more stable than having it sit on site at the plants.
I dunno about you guys, but I would feel a lot better if all that waste was safely underground instead of being scattered all over the country at the various power plants.

jet4fun
02-11-2003, 01:03 AM
thats about 7352.94 pounds per tire.........give or take