Skip to main content

Nuclear Industry Skeptic Turns into Believer

My name is Jennifer Correa, and I am a mechanical engineer with Structural Integrity Associates. I have been in the nuclear industry for about 13 years. At Structural Integrity, I co-manage the Fatigue Management Product, which deals with the fatigue of metal components due to changes in pressure and temperature in nuclear power plants. If the conditions that lead to metal fatigue are managed well, the components can operate safely for many years, well beyond the original licensing period.
Jennifer Correa
Jennifer Correa
Before I came to Structural Integrity, I didn’t know much about nuclear power. I understood it at a basic level, but only so far as the introduction that I received as part of my general mechanical engineering coursework. It was kind of mysterious and I had a vague idea that it was dangerous and risky. I’m a Californian and the opposition to nuclear power is strong in parts of this state. When I came to work for Structural Integrity, I was skeptical of nuclear power. Yet, over time, as I learned more about the design and operation of the plants, and about the regulatory environment in which the plants operate, I became convinced that nuclear power is an important part of our power mix and that we don’t take undue risks by having nuclear plants in our country.

My favorite part of my job is working with our clients to solve aging management issues. We help them determine the best course for their plant’s needs and then use our tools to meet those needs. This includes help with License Renewal Application preparation, ASME Section III fatigue analyses, Environmentally-Assisted Fatigue analysis, and so on. One of the tools of which I am especially proud is a cycle and fatigue management software called SI:FatiguePro 4.0, which we developed here at Structural Integrity (originally under EPRI sponsorship in the 1980s). Our software can be customized to the needs of each plant and is used to help manage fatigue by tracking plant transients and fatigue usage in critical components over time. With this software, plant engineers can monitor metal fatigue at their plants to ensure that cycle and fatigue limits are not exceeded. If any limits are projected to be exceeded, then the software gives them an early warning so that they can make plans to correct the issue before it becomes a problem.  

I think that the public would be more accepting of nuclear power if people understood the basics of how nuclear plants work. Most people would be surprised to learn that the amount of nuclear fuel used to operate nuclear plants is very small and that this fuel is used only as a heat source to turn water into steam, just like any other electrical generating plant that uses steam to run its turbines. The hyperbolic cooling towers, which have come to symbolize the nuclear power industry, are just cooling towers for secondary-side (non-radioactive) water – these types of towers are widely used in applications where large volumes of hot water must be cooled quickly, not just for generating nuclear power. The steam that we see coming out the top and the water being recirculated back into lakes, rivers, and oceans is closely monitored to ensure levels of radioactivity are well below federal limits. The water that runs through the reactors themselves, which does contain radioactive particles, is isolated from the water released back into the environment.  

Nuclear power generation is the only currently available method of generating large amounts of electricity, 24 hours a day, without producing any carbon emissions. Also, nuclear reactors do not emit any of the six air pollutants identified in the Clean Air Act: ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide or lead. In our current environment, we are focused on reducing carbon emissions, and this makes nuclear energy an extremely important part of the power generation mix for fighting pollution.  

The above post by Structural Integrity Associates is a part of NEI’s Powered by Our People promotion which showcases the innovators within the nation’s nuclear energy workforce.

For more on this promotion, follow the #futureofenergy tag across our digital channels. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

An Ohio School Board Is Working to Save Nuclear Plants

Ohio faces a decision soon about its two nuclear reactors, Davis-Besse and Perry, and on Wednesday, neighbors of one of those plants issued a cry for help. The reactors’ problem is that the price of electricity they sell on the high-voltage grid is depressed, mostly because of a surplus of natural gas. And the reactors do not get any revenue for the other benefits they provide. Some of those benefits are regional – emissions-free electricity, reliability with months of fuel on-site, and diversity in case of problems or price spikes with gas or coal, state and federal payroll taxes, and national economic stimulus as the plants buy fuel, supplies and services. Some of the benefits are highly localized, including employment and property taxes. One locality is already feeling the pinch: Oak Harbor on Lake Erie, home to Davis-Besse. The town has a middle school in a building that is 106 years old, and an elementary school from the 1950s, and on May 2 was scheduled to have a referendu

Why Ex-Im Bank Board Nominations Will Turn the Page on a Dysfunctional Chapter in Washington

In our present era of political discord, could Washington agree to support an agency that creates thousands of American jobs by enabling U.S. companies of all sizes to compete in foreign markets? What if that agency generated nearly billions of dollars more in revenue than the cost of its operations and returned that money – $7 billion over the past two decades – to U.S. taxpayers? In fact, that agency, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), was reauthorized by a large majority of Congress in 2015. To be sure, the matter was not without controversy. A bipartisan House coalition resorted to a rarely-used parliamentary maneuver in order to force a vote. But when Congress voted, Ex-Im Bank won a supermajority in the House and a large majority in the Senate. For almost two years, however, Ex-Im Bank has been unable to function fully because a single Senate committee chairman prevented the confirmation of nominees to its Board of Directors. Without a quorum

NEI Praises Connecticut Action in Support of Nuclear Energy

Earlier this week, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed SB-1501 into law, legislation that puts nuclear energy on an equal footing with other non-emitting sources of energy in the state’s electricity marketplace. “Gov. Malloy and the state legislature deserve praise for their decision to support Dominion’s Millstone Power Station and the 1,500 Connecticut residents who work there," said NEI President and CEO Maria Korsnick. "By opening the door to Millstone having equal access to auctions open to other non-emitting sources of electricity, the state will help preserve $1.5 billion in economic activity, grid resiliency and reliability, and clean air that all residents of the state can enjoy," Korsnick said. Millstone Power Station Korsnick continued, "Connecticut is the third state to re-balance its electricity marketplace, joining New York and Illinois, which took their own legislative paths to preserving nuclear power plants in 2016. Now attention should