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Westinghouse makes nuclear power reactors that are far from nuclear weapons (typically shortened as "nukes"). The sentiment for nuclear power has changed in the US too and more large or small SMRs will be built. However, many more are being built overseas.
I am in the Chicago area and almost 33% of the power generation here is nuclear via a long and twisted history of Com Ed-->Exelon/EXC-->Constellation Energy/CEG spinoff that's a hot stock now with 19 GW nuclear power capacity.
Uranium enrichment required for "nukes" is far higher then what is needed for nuclear power fuel.
the 'problem' with nuclear energy is not technology, as it should out-rate any current competitor based on power/cost/risk/footprint. in democracies, the problem is politics, and in authoritarian nations, the problem is safety\oversight.
i.e., like with with any truly meaningful tech, its humans that are the problem.
will inform them regarding your concern. already powering half of all nuclear in america.
"About half of the U.S. nuclear fleet (approximately 60 operating plants) uses technology originally developed or licensed by Westinghouse, including both direct builds and technology transfers."
Wiki has head spinning adventures / misadventures of Westinghouse. The name still exists in several venues. And more than just making some radios, it started RCA (originally, the Radio Corporation of America) that was the hot in-stock of its era. Westinghouse Nuclear is now owned by BBU/BN (Canadian Brookfield). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westinghouse_Electric_Corporation
I'm not aware of any significant safety problems with the Westinghouse reactors, and a quick DuckDuckGo came up with nothing relating to safety concerns, but plenty with respect to financial misadventure.
With respect to RCA, it's parentage was actually pretty motley:
The RCA Corporation (RCA), founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America, was a major American electronics company during most of the 20th century. Initially RCA was a patent trust owned by a partnership of General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Company. It became an independent company in 1932 after the partners agreed to divest their ownerships in settling an antitrust lawsuit by the United States
Hi @hank That Westinghouse, model H862N7, 1962 was likely built in the USA. A 'tube' model that also has two CD (Civil Defense) bands in the AM tuner. This period going forward began to find many 'legal naming rights' to be maintained, although many of the radios and similar products were manufactured in Japan. The 'old' Bell and Howell name still exists for many products...solar powered outdoor lighting, ceiling fans, etc.; manufactured in China and other countries. The Zenith name still exists for products, but is now owned by LG of South Korea.
Yogi is correct: ”Wiki has head spinning adventures / misadventures of Westinghouse.”
Thanks for the link.
Re Westinghouse’s broadcasting history. This Wiki article is about WBZ Boston which Westinghouse long operated. But it also references Westinghouse’s founding of KDKA Pittsburgh.
”In November 1920, the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company established its first broadcasting station, KDKA, located in its plant in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station was set up to promote the sale of Westinghouse radio receivers”
Back to WBZ. - It was a favorite evening listen of mine in the 70s, its clear-channel AM signal reaching all the way to southern Michigan after dark. I’ll never forget the colorful Jerry Williams who “crucified” Nixon nightly. What a period. Thanks Westinghouse.
Someone explain, please? How playing with nukes for power is a different sort of playing with nukes for weapons? Still gotta be radioactive waste produced, eh? What was the hubbub about the NO NUKES concert, then?
I know nothing about science, as you can see. Like Mathematics, science in school for me was a foreign thing, like a dyslexic hermaphrodite Martian being forced to learn Russian language through a microscope.
The vacuum tube lineup: Converter: 12BE6 IF amplifier: 12BA6 Detector and first audio amplifier: 12AV6 or 12AT6 Audio power output: 50C5 or the less-common 50B5 Rectifier: 35W4
Excerpts: “According to the Power Reactor Information System (PRIS) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), there are (in 1924) 413 nuclear reactors in operation worldwide with an average age of around 32 years.”
”Nuclear energy accounts for the largest percentage of the global electricity mix in France. In 2022 it was 63%. With 56 reactors, France is also the European leader in this respect. However, the last reactor was connected to the grid in 1999 and the average age is 38.6 years. “ -
”Someone explain, please? How playing with nukes for power is a different sort of playing with nukes for weapons? Still gotta be radioactive waste produced, eh?”
We’ve had several that operated in Michigan dating back to the late 50s. Most have been dismantled. Like everything technological, they have a limited life-span. In simplest terms, fission reactions (the splitting of atoms) in a controlled environment create heat which is then converted into electricity. The early ones were “boiling water” types with the steam produced powering large turbine generators. I suspect they’ve advanced beyond that simple concept today.
You are correct that waste is created. It can be safely handled and stored, but remains “hot” (highly radioactive) for thousands of years. There has been fierce debate over how to safely dispose of the waste. Deep inside mountains has been proposed. I’m not up to speed on whether this at has been resolved. For now, I believe waste is pretty much stored on-site and shielded somehow. But it’s not a long term solution.
Accidents are rare. Loss of cooling water is the biggest threat. So these plants are typically located near bodies of water and backup electrical energy is crucial to power the coolant pumps in the event the primary sources fail. The reactors themselves are very small - perhaps smaller than a typical room in a home. Most of what one sees in photos is the supporting equipment, surrounding containment vessels, heat dispersion / cooling apparatus. While accidents are rare they are monstrous when they occur with deadly long lasting contaminants being spread over hundreds or thousands of miles - rendering farmland, water sources, homes, unusable virtually forever and causing illness or death to those contaminated. It’s this last “nightmare” possibility (and some actual catastrophic events) that has made nuclear power generation so controversial and has slowed the development of new plants. Planning must take into consideration potential threats like floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, acts of war and terrorism.
Key differences from weapons are (1) In generating electrical power, the nuclear fission process is controlled. It can be shut-down if necessary by the plant operators, assuming everything is working correctly, (2) The radiation produced is contained within a structure and not dispersed intentionally into the environment, (3) Rather then blowing something up, the power released is converted into useful electricity..
Hi @Old_Joe Yes to the tube types. With many uses for these tube types, there must have been millions built. I worked on some audio equipment that used these tubes, for the last time, in the mid 80's.
Indeed ! This is a snippet of information regarding the KW-26 model of crypto equipment I serviced based on 'tubes', I also worked on 'newer and other' transistor based models. You may choose to take a quick peek of a KW-26 document with a lot of operational data, but a quick scroll will provide a lot of interesting pics, too.
--- The switch selectable meters on the front panel had multiple uses. You could use them to look at the input or output signal to the lines or the teletype or the power supply voltages (- 230, -250, and -270 volts). My recollection is that the voltages each had a switch setting and were read on the meter as a percentage of the nominal voltage.
Each crypto technician carried a "7-level" screwdriver in his front pocket to make power supply adjustments. The right way to do it was to use a multimeter, but the quick way was to use the panel meter. The seven level was also used to adjust the oscillator - but this was at your own risk. The adjustment was inside the oscillator chassis and the adjusting screw was live with about 250 volts on it. To prevent shorting, the adjustment hole in the chassis was lined with a grommet. If you touched the shaft of the screwdriver you got a real wake up. Although the prescribed tool was a tuning wand, I'm guessing that many more adjustments were made with a 7-level screwdriver than were made with the wand. (My 7-level had a length of heat shrink tubing covering most of the shaft.) ---
On a recent trip to China, I observed from a couple of high-speed trains (the equal of Europe's) many convex cooling towers of nuclear reactors just about everywhere. I do fear that were there an adverse event that the Chinese authorities would not be forthcoming regarding the severity of the problem. Chernobyl is a text-book case in how an authoritarian system can compound (murderously) the effects of a disaster, simply by acting authoritarian and closed-mouthed. See Adam Higginbotham, Midnight at Chernobyl (2019).
Westinghouse also manufactured some of the first refrigerators. My great uncle possessed one of the very first models (maybe from 1925) and the company recognized his fridge as one of the longest living. It was still functioning in the mid-1950's, a box on legs with its cylindrical cooling coils mounted on top of the whole shebang. It was so ugly that it had to be put out of sight in a pantry. Not that the radio @hank found would have won any beauty contest.
Hi @hank That Westinghouse, model H862N7, 1962 was likely built in the USA. A 'tube' model that also has two CD (Civil Defense) bands in the AM tuner. This period going forward began to find many 'legal naming rights' to be maintained, although many of the radios and similar products were manufactured in Japan. The 'old' Bell and Howell name still exists for many products...solar powered outdoor lighting, ceiling fans, etc.; manufactured in China and other countries. The Zenith name still exists for products, but is now owned by LG of South Korea.
Brings to mind Shakespeare’s ”What’s in a name …?”
Thanks Catch for the research into that radio. I do possess a 70s vintage Admiral AM / FM that still works and rate its appearance much better than that Westinghouse I posted. A treasure to me.
Westinghouse was of course into short-wave which I know some here were expert at. I did enjoy listening in to some ham operators evenings in the 70s & 80s. Vacuum tubes? Yuck. Got real hot. Wore out. Could cut your hand on one if not careful.
...and could shock the bejeezus out of you when working on those things. Anywhere from 150 to 400 or more volts plate voltage. I was SO happy when solid state came in.
And that was civilian stuff. On the Coast Guard military equipment the plate voltages were up into the thousands of volts.
But the two most dangerous shocks that I ever received were from plain old 120vac. One of those was from a radio transmitter in the Philippines. Almost all of the power inside the transmitter was shut off by safety interlocks on the service access doors. Wearing service shorts because of the tropical heat my bare knees were on a grounded metal plate in front of that transmitter. And somehow my hand encountered the one circuit which was still powered inside the transmitter... the safety interlock circuit itself, which was plain old 120 volts AC.
Froze me to the grounded metal plate for what seemed like forever. Finally wrenched myself loose, and was shaking for almost an hour. You do remember things like that.
Wow. Crazy. Can count about a half-dozen harrowing experiences in my long life that could / should have ended it. Escaped thus far. Was not aware of the shock hazard. Did a lot of foolish stuff with electricity as a kid but never tried replacing a tube. I do have a large bug zapper that even unplugged for several minutes retains quite a charge as I’ve learned the hard way. Suspect vacuum tubes may also be that way.
@hank. I appreciate your description and links. About the radioactive waste: I know a guy who works, dealing with it every day. He was at West Valley in Western NY south of Buffalo. That task somehow got completed, I think. He went to the Savannah River Project, then. Scary descriptions he offered of thick rubber underground bladders full of the toxic junk. Huge, quarter-mile long bladders. Or they found they could neutralize the waste by including it in glass. Pitchers, bowls... Now he's at Oak Ridge.
@BenWP - the HBO miniseries 'Chernobyl' does an excellent job of portraying that very situation with an authoritarian government. Great series, detailed, and at times heart-ripping....
@BenWP - the HBO miniseries 'Chernobyl' does an excellent job of portraying that very situation with an authoritarian government. Great series, detailed, and at times heart-ripping....
I actually watched that one. Authoritarian: yes, re: sunken subs, too! They could not admit the disaster, so agreed too late to allow international assistance in order to save the lives of the crew.
Comments
I am in the Chicago area and almost 33% of the power generation here is nuclear via a long and twisted history of Com Ed-->Exelon/EXC-->Constellation Energy/CEG spinoff that's a hot stock now with 19 GW nuclear power capacity.
Uranium enrichment required for "nukes" is far higher then what is needed for nuclear power fuel.
i.e., like with with any truly meaningful tech, its humans that are the problem.
For sure.
will inform them regarding your concern. already powering half of all nuclear in america.
"About half of the U.S. nuclear fleet (approximately 60 operating plants) uses technology originally developed or licensed by Westinghouse, including both direct builds and technology transfers."
And more than just making some radios, it started RCA (originally, the Radio Corporation of America) that was the hot in-stock of its era.
Westinghouse Nuclear is now owned by BBU/BN (Canadian Brookfield).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westinghouse_Electric_Corporation
With respect to RCA, it's parentage was actually pretty motley: (From Wikipedia)
The 'old' Bell and Howell name still exists for many products...solar powered outdoor lighting, ceiling fans, etc.; manufactured in China and other countries.
The Zenith name still exists for products, but is now owned by LG of South Korea.
Thanks for the link.
Re Westinghouse’s broadcasting history. This Wiki article is about WBZ Boston which Westinghouse long operated. But it also references Westinghouse’s founding of KDKA Pittsburgh.
”In November 1920, the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company established its first broadcasting station, KDKA, located in its plant in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The station was set up to promote the sale of Westinghouse radio receivers”
Back to WBZ. - It was a favorite evening listen of mine in the 70s, its clear-channel AM signal reaching all the way to southern Michigan after dark. I’ll never forget the colorful Jerry Williams who “crucified” Nixon nightly. What a period. Thanks Westinghouse.
I know nothing about science, as you can see. Like Mathematics, science in school for me was a foreign thing, like a dyslexic hermaphrodite Martian being forced to learn Russian language through a microscope.
Converter: 12BE6
IF amplifier: 12BA6
Detector and first audio amplifier: 12AV6 or 12AT6
Audio power output: 50C5 or the less-common 50B5
Rectifier: 35W4
Excerpts: “According to the Power Reactor Information System (PRIS) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), there are (in 1924) 413 nuclear reactors in operation worldwide with an average age of around 32 years.”
”Nuclear energy accounts for the largest percentage of the global electricity mix in France. In 2022 it was 63%. With 56 reactors, France is also the European leader in this respect. However, the last reactor was connected to the grid in 1999 and the average age is 38.6 years. “
- We’ve had several that operated in Michigan dating back to the late 50s. Most have been dismantled. Like everything technological, they have a limited life-span. In simplest terms, fission reactions (the splitting of atoms) in a controlled environment create heat which is then converted into electricity. The early ones were “boiling water” types with the steam produced powering large turbine generators. I suspect they’ve advanced beyond that simple concept today.
You are correct that waste is created. It can be safely handled and stored, but remains “hot” (highly radioactive) for thousands of years. There has been fierce debate over how to safely dispose of the waste. Deep inside mountains has been proposed. I’m not up to speed on whether this at has been resolved. For now, I believe waste is pretty much stored on-site and shielded somehow. But it’s not a long term solution.
Accidents are rare. Loss of cooling water is the biggest threat. So these plants are typically located near bodies of water and backup electrical energy is crucial to power the coolant pumps in the event the primary sources fail. The reactors themselves are very small - perhaps smaller than a typical room in a home. Most of what one sees in photos is the supporting equipment, surrounding containment vessels, heat dispersion / cooling apparatus. While accidents are rare they are monstrous when they occur with deadly long lasting contaminants being spread over hundreds or thousands of miles - rendering farmland, water sources, homes, unusable virtually forever and causing illness or death to those contaminated. It’s this last “nightmare” possibility (and some actual catastrophic events) that has made nuclear power generation so controversial and has slowed the development of new plants. Planning must take into consideration potential threats like floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, acts of war and terrorism.
Key differences from weapons are (1) In generating electrical power, the nuclear fission process is controlled. It can be shut-down if necessary by the plant operators, assuming everything is working correctly, (2) The radiation produced is contained within a structure and not dispersed intentionally into the environment, (3) Rather then blowing something up, the power released is converted into useful electricity..
See also Nuclear Powered Ships
...and a very good one, too.
Converter: 12SA7
IF amplifier: 12SK7
Detector and first audio amplifier: 12SQ7
Audio power output: 50L6
Rectifier: 35Z5
Working on those things was surely an invitation to a shocking experience.
--- The switch selectable meters on the front panel had multiple uses. You could use them to look at the input or output signal to the lines or the teletype or the power supply voltages (- 230, -250, and -270 volts). My recollection is that the voltages each had a switch setting and were read on the meter as a percentage of the nominal voltage.
Each crypto technician carried a "7-level" screwdriver in his front pocket to make power supply adjustments. The right way to do it was to use a multimeter, but the quick way was to use the panel meter. The seven level was also used to adjust the oscillator - but this was at your own risk. The adjustment was inside the oscillator chassis and the adjusting screw was live with about 250 volts on it. To prevent shorting, the adjustment hole in the chassis was lined with a grommet. If you touched the shaft of the screwdriver you got a real wake up. Although the prescribed tool was a tuning wand, I'm guessing that many more adjustments were made with a 7-level screwdriver than were made with the wand. (My 7-level had a length of heat shrink tubing covering most of the shaft.) ---
Westinghouse also manufactured some of the first refrigerators. My great uncle possessed one of the very first models (maybe from 1925) and the company recognized his fridge as one of the longest living. It was still functioning in the mid-1950's, a box on legs with its cylindrical cooling coils mounted on top of the whole shebang. It was so ugly that it had to be put out of sight in a pantry. Not that the radio @hank found would have won any beauty contest.
Thanks Catch for the research into that radio. I do possess a 70s vintage Admiral AM / FM that still works and rate its appearance much better than that Westinghouse I posted. A treasure to me.
Westinghouse was of course into short-wave which I know some here were expert at. I did enjoy listening in to some ham operators evenings in the 70s & 80s. Vacuum tubes? Yuck. Got real hot. Wore out. Could cut your hand on one if not careful.
But the two most dangerous shocks that I ever received were from plain old 120vac. One of those was from a radio transmitter in the Philippines. Almost all of the power inside the transmitter was shut off by safety interlocks on the service access doors. Wearing service shorts because of the tropical heat my bare knees were on a grounded metal plate in front of that transmitter. And somehow my hand encountered the one circuit which was still powered inside the transmitter... the safety interlock circuit itself, which was plain old 120 volts AC.
Froze me to the grounded metal plate for what seemed like forever. Finally wrenched myself loose, and was shaking for almost an hour. You do remember things like that.
OMG - They make bug zappers too! See Ad
Discussion of How Nuclear Power Plants Work with a few illustrations
Another excellent presentation with illustrations
@BenWP - the HBO miniseries 'Chernobyl' does an excellent job of portraying that very situation with an authoritarian government. Great series, detailed, and at times heart-ripping....
Movie: K-19.
Kursk.
Maybe others.