Byron Nuclear Generating Station

Thanks to Carlos Paz-Soldan for taking the photos on this page during the tour. All photos are downloadable as a zipped archive below. For full-size photos, please send a request to info@uwehub.org, and we’ll ask Carlos for permission to send you the file!

Summary of Energy Hub’s Tour of the Byron Nuclear Generating Station

The Byron Nuclear Generating Station Tour on March 2, 2009 was a big success. Twenty-eight Energy Hub members, Energy Analysis and Policy students, and friends made the trip to Byron, IL in two big white vans. There was some initial confusion when we first began – the van rental agency made a mistake and sent us off with one 15-passenger and one 12-passenger van! We made last-minute arrangements and arrived at Byron late, but safely.

First, we met Exelon representatives (the corporate owners of the Byron facility) for a presentation on the technical and economic details about the plant, its construction, and an overview on the history and future of nuclear power in the US and Midwest. Then, we visited the Control Room Simulator – a full-scale replica of the control rooms used to pilot Byron’s two 1200MW pressurized-water reactors which serve over 2 million customers throughout Illinois. Reactor operators must pass very stringent safety and training standards, and are continuously training on the simulators (roughly 20% of their careers) to maintain the utmost control of reactor performance. These extremely tight tolerances for safety and efficiency have paid off – the Byron Station recorded a capacity factor of 94.3% for 2008. Leaving the Control Room Simulator, we were escorted into the secured area of the plant, guarded by rather imposing razor-wire fences, watchtowers, and multiple guarded gateways accessed via biometric palm-scanning. Security was tight, but not extreme when compared to similar measures at all national airports.

Inside the main area, we were dwarfed by the twin 495-foot cooling towers that belched steam thousands of feet into the air. It was a cold day, so ice had started to form at the base of the cooling towers – indicating that they were functioning perhaps too well. Happy to escape the frigid wind, the tour group moved inside the Turbine Building, housing the station’s two massive Westinghouse steam turbine generators and auxiliary/safety equipment. The tour did not enter the Reactor Containment Building at all (for various safety and security reasons), but we were shown a descriptive presentation about how the reactor is fueled, operated, and monitored, and how spent fuel is removed from the core and stored in the on-site cooling pool. Due to the unavailability of a federal storage facility for spent nuclear fuel, nuclear plant operators are devising better and safer ways to store waste long-term at the reactor site. Exelon has begun construction of a dry-cask storage facility at the Byron site, which should begin storing fuel in coming years.

Concluding the tour was an overview of safety and redundancy measures at the plant, including the two huge diesel generators capable of powering all safety equipment in the event of failure of the main generators or reactor power.

Lunch was provided courtesty of Exelon, along with a casual Q&A session with Byron plant operators and managers on the economics of running a nuclear plant, employment at the plant, and the prospects for new nuclear power projects in the US. Both Illinois and Wisconsin currently have moratoriums (“moratoria”?) forbidding the construction of new nuclear power plants.

On the way home, the vans were abuzz with conversations on nuclear power, fuel storage, and also alternatives. (Disclosure: the Energy Hub organization does not take an official stance on nuclear power) Nearly everyone on the trip could say that they had learned something new about nuclear power generation, and were glad to have had the unique opportunity to tour the plant.

Energy Hub thanks Exelon for providing us with the rare opportunity to tour the Byron facility – we were duly impressed with the massive scale and coordination of the operation, as well as the patience and hospitality of our hosts.

-Nathan Pinney, Energy Hub President

ZIP file of all photos taken by Carlos Paz-Soldan (2.0MB): ByronTourPhotos.zip

More information about Byron Nuclear Generating Facility:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_Nuclear_Generating_Station

Pre-Tour Promotional Web Content

We and our friends at Exelon are extraordinarily pleased to be able to offer 30 students the opportunity to tour a 2300 MW nuclear power plant! This is a rare treat, post-9/11. Exelon engineers and Energy Hub execs have organized a day that you will not want to miss.

Who: The first 30 members of Energy Hub and Energy, Analysis & Policy that sign up online
When: Monday, March 2, 8:00am – 3:30pm
Where: Byron, Illinois (~90 miles)

Agenda:

1. Presentation about nuclear power
2. Simulator demonstration
3. Engineering case study at cooling tower
4. Station security
5. Turbine deck
6. View of containment
7. Lunch with corporate leadership and engineering personnel
8. Vehicle tour of ISFSI storage pad

Transportation: University vans, no personal vehicles
Meals: Bagels for breakfast, lunch provided on site courtesy of Exelon
Fee: $10

Space is extremely limited, and we must provide a list of attendees well in advance for security reasons. We must have our list finalized by Friday, Feb. 20. Non-technical types are encouraged to attend.

Sign up now!

Sign up is CLOSED for this event. Please join our email list for information about future events! Send an email request to info@uwehub.org and we’ll put your name on the members list.
Contact: Tyler Giles (tyler.giles@gmail.com)