Worked in electricity generation & be can asked anything?
Discussion
Noting another old lady of the AGRs finally raised her last steam today (Hinkley B)...though might be an interesting thread.
Me, mainly steam side / condensed steam side but occasionally on mechanical fuel routes (despite not being a mechanical engineer)!
Conventional;
Fiddler Ferry, West Burton C, Carrington Gas Plant, Maentwrog. Can be asked about.
Nucs;
Heysham Stage 1 and Stage 2, Torness (most beautiful UK turbine train in a lovely Morris Ital Blue colour IMO), Hinkley B, Hartlepool, Dungeness B. Calder Hall, Chapelcross, Hunterston A, DMTR, PFR, WAGR (my neighbour whom is 90 did the welds on the exterior of WAGR), Bradwell (best food), Dunengess A, Wylfa, Trawsffffffyndddddddd, Berkerley, Oldbury. One Magnox short of a full Deck!!!!! And not a PWR amongst. Not sure should speak about these..........
Underwater ones;
Wouldn't say if I did / had or could.
Renewable:
Pelamis, Pentland Firth.
To be honest the only funny / interesting story I can think of is when Fiddlers converted a burner to take biomass, which at that time (mid 2000s) was olive stones. Now a good idea as both burnable wood and olive oil so good calorific value. However. coal has many angular faces on each lump which helped it stick on the conveyors. Had to send the round olive stones to be milled to get flat faces so they wouldn't keep rolling back down the feed conveyors to the grinders (eventually I think went to pneumatic transfer but I'd gone by then).
Oh, and the bursting disc going on a coal grinder did make me fill my pants.
Me, mainly steam side / condensed steam side but occasionally on mechanical fuel routes (despite not being a mechanical engineer)!
Conventional;
Fiddler Ferry, West Burton C, Carrington Gas Plant, Maentwrog. Can be asked about.
Nucs;
Heysham Stage 1 and Stage 2, Torness (most beautiful UK turbine train in a lovely Morris Ital Blue colour IMO), Hinkley B, Hartlepool, Dungeness B. Calder Hall, Chapelcross, Hunterston A, DMTR, PFR, WAGR (my neighbour whom is 90 did the welds on the exterior of WAGR), Bradwell (best food), Dunengess A, Wylfa, Trawsffffffyndddddddd, Berkerley, Oldbury. One Magnox short of a full Deck!!!!! And not a PWR amongst. Not sure should speak about these..........
Underwater ones;
Wouldn't say if I did / had or could.
Renewable:
Pelamis, Pentland Firth.
To be honest the only funny / interesting story I can think of is when Fiddlers converted a burner to take biomass, which at that time (mid 2000s) was olive stones. Now a good idea as both burnable wood and olive oil so good calorific value. However. coal has many angular faces on each lump which helped it stick on the conveyors. Had to send the round olive stones to be milled to get flat faces so they wouldn't keep rolling back down the feed conveyors to the grinders (eventually I think went to pneumatic transfer but I'd gone by then).
Oh, and the bursting disc going on a coal grinder did make me fill my pants.
Eric Mc said:
I may be stupid but I have no idea what the OP is on about at all.
AGR = Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor Conventional = e.g. coal fired power station
Nucs = nuclear power stations
Renewable = well, not oil, gas or coal.
So he works on the steam side of production (i.e. not the hot fiery bit) where steam drives turbines?
Doofus said:
"Can be asked anything"?
Ok: WTF are you on about?
Did try and write "Ask someone who has worked in electricity generation anything" as the thread title, but in trying to caveat it "as some generation forms you can't talk too much about" (though most fubars / legends / urban myths from the UK plants are out there on google in one form or another these days) it wouldn't let me write as long a title as I liked so I went for the random most relevant words to try and get a title!!!! Obviously not well enough and I should be sacked thus from writing pressure relief procedure immediately!Ok: WTF are you on about?
Allegro_Snapon said:
Noting another old lady of the AGRs finally raised her last steam today (Hinkley B)...though might be an interesting thread.
Me, mainly steam side / condensed steam side but occasionally on mechanical fuel routes (despite not being a mechanical engineer)!
Conventional;
Fiddler Ferry, West Burton C, Carrington Gas Plant, Maentwrog. Can be asked about.
Nucs;
Heysham Stage 1 and Stage 2, Torness (most beautiful UK turbine train in a lovely Morris Ital Blue colour IMO), Hinkley B, Hartlepool, Dungeness B. Calder Hall, Chapelcross, Hunterston A, DMTR, PFR, WAGR (my neighbour whom is 90 did the welds on the exterior of WAGR), Bradwell (best food), Dunengess A, Wylfa, Trawsffffffyndddddddd, Berkerley, Oldbury. One Magnox short of a full Deck!!!!! And not a PWR amongst. Not sure should speak about these..........
Underwater ones;
Wouldn't say if I did / had or could.
Renewable:
Pelamis, Pentland Firth.
To be honest the only funny / interesting story I can think of is when Fiddlers converted a burner to take biomass, which at that time (mid 2000s) was olive stones. Now a good idea as both burnable wood and olive oil so good calorific value. However. coal has many angular faces on each lump which helped it stick on the conveyors. Had to send the round olive stones to be milled to get flat faces so they wouldn't keep rolling back down the feed conveyors to the grinders (eventually I think went to pneumatic transfer but I'd gone by then).
Oh, and the bursting disc going on a coal grinder did make me fill my pants.
West Burton C you say....?Me, mainly steam side / condensed steam side but occasionally on mechanical fuel routes (despite not being a mechanical engineer)!
Conventional;
Fiddler Ferry, West Burton C, Carrington Gas Plant, Maentwrog. Can be asked about.
Nucs;
Heysham Stage 1 and Stage 2, Torness (most beautiful UK turbine train in a lovely Morris Ital Blue colour IMO), Hinkley B, Hartlepool, Dungeness B. Calder Hall, Chapelcross, Hunterston A, DMTR, PFR, WAGR (my neighbour whom is 90 did the welds on the exterior of WAGR), Bradwell (best food), Dunengess A, Wylfa, Trawsffffffyndddddddd, Berkerley, Oldbury. One Magnox short of a full Deck!!!!! And not a PWR amongst. Not sure should speak about these..........
Underwater ones;
Wouldn't say if I did / had or could.
Renewable:
Pelamis, Pentland Firth.
To be honest the only funny / interesting story I can think of is when Fiddlers converted a burner to take biomass, which at that time (mid 2000s) was olive stones. Now a good idea as both burnable wood and olive oil so good calorific value. However. coal has many angular faces on each lump which helped it stick on the conveyors. Had to send the round olive stones to be milled to get flat faces so they wouldn't keep rolling back down the feed conveyors to the grinders (eventually I think went to pneumatic transfer but I'd gone by then).
Oh, and the bursting disc going on a coal grinder did make me fill my pants.
This intrigues me!
vaud said:
Allegro_Snapon said:
(though most fubars / legends / urban myths from the UK plants are out there on google in one form or another these days)
Any keywords you can recommend to show these?http://waltpatterson.net/goingcritical.pdf
Snake oil, but no smoke without fire from this fellow, Chris Busby he usually publishes what he hears....
http://stophinkley.org/archive/NewsPages/news07042...
Or try the power station Stakeholder Groups, SEPA reports, ONR reports
https://wcssg.co.uk/meetings-events/
https://www.dounreaystakeholdergroup.org/documents...
etc etc for the electricity generation sites of Magnox and AGRS
Once you find reference to an event, type the more specifics into Google, e.g. Chapelcross Uranium Fire.....
https://www.coldwarscotland.co.uk/chapelcross-almo...
Nukeworker.com and World Nuclear News in the States also seem to publish reports that are not so public in the UK.
Mr MXT said:
Did you know my Dad? He worked at Fiddlers (with some of my uncles!) mostly, but also Wylva, Heysham etc from 80s to mid 90s ? 
I think there were a good few thousand of us on that Merry-go-round in the North West in those decades (though I'm a later starter). Did he work for a company reknowned for being "No Nearer Completion" on projects?Allegro_Snapon said:
gmasterfunk said:
Allegro_Snapon said:
West Burton C you say....?
This intrigues me!
On paper at feasibility stage when a few probs with B construction were going on, never came to anything (thank god as it would have bankrupted the contractor I was with at the time).This intrigues me!
I heard a rumour C may be on the cards again... but with the current situating who knows.
Allegro_Snapon said:
Doofus said:
"Can be asked anything"?
Ok: WTF are you on about?
Did try and write "Ask someone who has worked in electricity generation anything" as the thread title, but in trying to caveat it "as some generation forms you can't talk too much about" (though most fubars / legends / urban myths from the UK plants are out there on google in one form or another these days) it wouldn't let me write as long a title as I liked so I went for the random most relevant words to try and get a title!!!! Obviously not well enough and I should be sacked thus from writing pressure relief procedure immediately!Ok: WTF are you on about?
Are you a protected person under the protected persons regulations 1990 and how smug are you if you are 
Have you ever played the 'fill a bin liner with hydrogen and stick a match (on a pole) in it'
Whats the highest bit of plant you have climbed without fall protection
Have you ever seen a CEGB water treatment plant work on full auto for more than 5 minutes.
Have you ever tripped a unit due to your error
Do you miss working at a proper (ie coal) station
Do you still refer to something as 'new' even though its been there for 10 years
Whats the biggest dose you have received
Im 39 years in the ESI so far myself
Have you ever played the 'fill a bin liner with hydrogen and stick a match (on a pole) in it'
Whats the highest bit of plant you have climbed without fall protection
Have you ever seen a CEGB water treatment plant work on full auto for more than 5 minutes.
Have you ever tripped a unit due to your error
Do you miss working at a proper (ie coal) station
Do you still refer to something as 'new' even though its been there for 10 years
Whats the biggest dose you have received
Im 39 years in the ESI so far myself
Gary C said:
Are you a protected person under the protected persons regulations 1990 and how smug are you if you are Nooooooo but I do have a number of good years in the UKAEA pension fund!!!!
Have you ever played the 'fill a bin liner with hydrogen and stick a match (on a pole) in it'
Whats the highest bit of plant you have climbed without fall protection That scary staircase in Wylfa Dry Stores, looks like if you fell over the handrail at the end of a turnback you'd 90 odd feet to go before the floor.
Have you ever seen a CEGB water treatment plant work on full auto for more than 5 minutes. Never seen one work that long at all
Have you ever tripped a unit due to your error At not a power generation unit but a fuel production plant at 12:24am on an August morning whilst doing an 'experimental run'. Shift Team Managers Tannoy response "Risley fukcwit what have you done, report to the control room now". I also inerted the basement of that building by slightly cocking up attaching a manifold pallet of nitrogen cylinders to the plant supply on the same night.
Do you miss working at a proper (ie coal) station Yes, loved being able to fettle on them without management or designer or regulator interference. Loved watching the "Fire over Air" burners at Fiddler (and chastise myself many a time for surely it was stupid to open an inspection hatch just to see the flame colours). Used to find every six months needed a new washing machine filter from coal dust blockages
Do you still refer to something as 'new' even though its been there for 10 years I did refer to an effluent plant we 'recently built' today whilst talking about one site to be reminded that we did that in 1998. A project that was seven years old when I was a graduate is still I found out last week in the final throws of 'Design Change Modifications' before being commissioned in the next year or three, so that plant will have been over 40 years in the making, but is still 'new' .
Whats the biggest dose you have received UK. Fairly mild, 11uSv, though it was in 4 seconds as I looked into an R4 hatch. When I shut the hatch, It had a sign on it "C2R4 to be locked closed at all times". Annual dose 1.2mSv though we did a lot of lab work and only at the end of the job did the RPA (Radiological Advisor) note that we should have perhaps worn finger monitors on our toes, as the samples were in lead castles in the fumehood, perfecty collimating the doses, not sideways to our bodies, but downwards to our feet! I did work in the States for a while and as their doses are in Rem they don't count apparently for us Limeys. Plus if you got dosed out in one Reg Region you had three more to play with (decom, not power Gen in the US).
Im 39 years in the ESI so far myself
Nooooooo but I do have a number of good years in the UKAEA pension fund!!!!Have you ever played the 'fill a bin liner with hydrogen and stick a match (on a pole) in it'
Whats the highest bit of plant you have climbed without fall protection That scary staircase in Wylfa Dry Stores, looks like if you fell over the handrail at the end of a turnback you'd 90 odd feet to go before the floor.
Have you ever seen a CEGB water treatment plant work on full auto for more than 5 minutes. Never seen one work that long at all
Have you ever tripped a unit due to your error At not a power generation unit but a fuel production plant at 12:24am on an August morning whilst doing an 'experimental run'. Shift Team Managers Tannoy response "Risley fukcwit what have you done, report to the control room now". I also inerted the basement of that building by slightly cocking up attaching a manifold pallet of nitrogen cylinders to the plant supply on the same night.
Do you miss working at a proper (ie coal) station Yes, loved being able to fettle on them without management or designer or regulator interference. Loved watching the "Fire over Air" burners at Fiddler (and chastise myself many a time for surely it was stupid to open an inspection hatch just to see the flame colours). Used to find every six months needed a new washing machine filter from coal dust blockages
Do you still refer to something as 'new' even though its been there for 10 years I did refer to an effluent plant we 'recently built' today whilst talking about one site to be reminded that we did that in 1998. A project that was seven years old when I was a graduate is still I found out last week in the final throws of 'Design Change Modifications' before being commissioned in the next year or three, so that plant will have been over 40 years in the making, but is still 'new' .
Whats the biggest dose you have received UK. Fairly mild, 11uSv, though it was in 4 seconds as I looked into an R4 hatch. When I shut the hatch, It had a sign on it "C2R4 to be locked closed at all times". Annual dose 1.2mSv though we did a lot of lab work and only at the end of the job did the RPA (Radiological Advisor) note that we should have perhaps worn finger monitors on our toes, as the samples were in lead castles in the fumehood, perfecty collimating the doses, not sideways to our bodies, but downwards to our feet! I did work in the States for a while and as their doses are in Rem they don't count apparently for us Limeys. Plus if you got dosed out in one Reg Region you had three more to play with (decom, not power Gen in the US).
Im 39 years in the ESI so far myself
Allegro_Snapon said:
Gary C said:
Are you a protected person under the protected persons regulations 1990 and how smug are you if you are Nooooooo but I do have a number of good years in the UKAEA pension fund!!!!
Have you ever played the 'fill a bin liner with hydrogen and stick a match (on a pole) in it'
Whats the highest bit of plant you have climbed without fall protection That scary staircase in Wylfa Dry Stores, looks like if you fell over the handrail at the end of a turnback you'd 90 odd feet to go before the floor.
Have you ever seen a CEGB water treatment plant work on full auto for more than 5 minutes. Never seen one work that long at all
Have you ever tripped a unit due to your error At not a power generation unit but a fuel production plant at 12:24am on an August morning whilst doing an 'experimental run'. Shift Team Managers Tannoy response "Risley fukcwit what have you done, report to the control room now". I also inerted the basement of that building by slightly cocking up attaching a manifold pallet of nitrogen cylinders to the plant supply on the same night.
Do you miss working at a proper (ie coal) station Yes, loved being able to fettle on them without management or designer or regulator interference. Loved watching the "Fire over Air" burners at Fiddler (and chastise myself many a time for surely it was stupid to open an inspection hatch just to see the flame colours). Used to find every six months needed a new washing machine filter from coal dust blockages
Do you still refer to something as 'new' even though its been there for 10 years I did refer to an effluent plant we 'recently built' today whilst talking about one site to be reminded that we did that in 1998. A project that was seven years old when I was a graduate is still I found out last week in the final throws of 'Design Change Modifications' before being commissioned in the next year or three, so that plant will have been over 40 years in the making, but is still 'new' .
Whats the biggest dose you have received UK. Fairly mild, 11uSv, though it was in 4 seconds as I looked into an R4 hatch. When I shut the hatch, It had a sign on it "C2R4 to be locked closed at all times". Annual dose 1.2mSv though we did a lot of lab work and only at the end of the job did the RPA (Radiological Advisor) note that we should have perhaps worn finger monitors on our toes, as the samples were in lead castles in the fumehood, perfecty collimating the doses, not sideways to our bodies, but downwards to our feet! I did work in the States for a while and as their doses are in Rem they don't count apparently for us Limeys. Plus if you got dosed out in one Reg Region you had three more to play with (decom, not power Gen in the US).
Im 39 years in the ESI so far myself
Nooooooo but I do have a number of good years in the UKAEA pension fund!!!!Have you ever played the 'fill a bin liner with hydrogen and stick a match (on a pole) in it'
Whats the highest bit of plant you have climbed without fall protection That scary staircase in Wylfa Dry Stores, looks like if you fell over the handrail at the end of a turnback you'd 90 odd feet to go before the floor.
Have you ever seen a CEGB water treatment plant work on full auto for more than 5 minutes. Never seen one work that long at all
Have you ever tripped a unit due to your error At not a power generation unit but a fuel production plant at 12:24am on an August morning whilst doing an 'experimental run'. Shift Team Managers Tannoy response "Risley fukcwit what have you done, report to the control room now". I also inerted the basement of that building by slightly cocking up attaching a manifold pallet of nitrogen cylinders to the plant supply on the same night.
Do you miss working at a proper (ie coal) station Yes, loved being able to fettle on them without management or designer or regulator interference. Loved watching the "Fire over Air" burners at Fiddler (and chastise myself many a time for surely it was stupid to open an inspection hatch just to see the flame colours). Used to find every six months needed a new washing machine filter from coal dust blockages
Do you still refer to something as 'new' even though its been there for 10 years I did refer to an effluent plant we 'recently built' today whilst talking about one site to be reminded that we did that in 1998. A project that was seven years old when I was a graduate is still I found out last week in the final throws of 'Design Change Modifications' before being commissioned in the next year or three, so that plant will have been over 40 years in the making, but is still 'new' .
Whats the biggest dose you have received UK. Fairly mild, 11uSv, though it was in 4 seconds as I looked into an R4 hatch. When I shut the hatch, It had a sign on it "C2R4 to be locked closed at all times". Annual dose 1.2mSv though we did a lot of lab work and only at the end of the job did the RPA (Radiological Advisor) note that we should have perhaps worn finger monitors on our toes, as the samples were in lead castles in the fumehood, perfecty collimating the doses, not sideways to our bodies, but downwards to our feet! I did work in the States for a while and as their doses are in Rem they don't count apparently for us Limeys. Plus if you got dosed out in one Reg Region you had three more to play with (decom, not power Gen in the US).
Im 39 years in the ESI so far myself
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