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Old 02-21-2021, 07:27 AM   #61
Silverdillo
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Freezing in the South

A big AMEN! It's been a big mess and identified more than one shortcoming, leadership and preparedness, but if other 49 just mind their own business Texas will be just fine.
#texit now!
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Old 02-21-2021, 07:43 AM   #62
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Originally Posted by jimborokz View Post
Can I add a word to this discussion that may blow it up. The word is "Nuclear".
This is not to open up politics but I just have a question. When I worked for GE Power Division back in the 70's I did work a several nuclear power generator sites in Texas. What ever happened to that source? I know it's toxic to discuss but that source is clean, safe and reliable. Seems like the state shut down a large source of power in order to be politically correct.
Jim

According to this article there are four nuclear units in TX (all PWRs) and only one tripped off due to low steam generator levels (no reason provided for that occurrence).

To summarize: "The shutdown of the reactor, one of the state's four, has played a relatively small role in Texas' power crisis, representing about 1,280 megawatts of the 30,000 megawatts of outages at the peak of the crisis Monday. Nuclear power normally provides about 11% of Texas's electricity.

Many of the state’s gas plants were knocked out from icy conditions, and some plants shut down from being unable to access the fuel they need because producing wells froze.

Wind turbines froze, too, but to a lesser extent."

Did you ever work at Grand Gulf in MS or River Bend in LA?
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Old 02-21-2021, 08:02 AM   #63
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There's a lot that went into this catastrophe..
Heavy industry is not built for extended sub freezing conditions in Texas, and not likely anywhere else in the south. Maybe a bit more weather protection in the Texas panhandle though. Power plants, refineries, and gas plants are built for 99% of what conditions they will see. Is a refinery in Houston built different than in Wyoming? I would imagine so. Same thing with power plants. Same with wind turbines. Same thing with home building. Is that right, or the correct way of doing business? Maybe, maybe not.
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Old 02-21-2021, 09:19 AM   #64
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Originally Posted by jimborokz View Post
Can I add a word to this discussion that may blow it up. The word is "Nuclear".
This is not to open up politics but I just have a question. When I worked for GE Power Division back in the 70's I did work a several nuclear power generator sites in Texas. What ever happened to that source? I know it's toxic to discuss but that source is clean, safe and reliable. Seems like the state shut down a large source of power in order to be politically correct.
There are 2 main Nuclear Power Facilities in Texas, the Comanche Peak Reactor and the Bay City Reactor.

The Comanche Peak Reactor, Comanche Peak, has 1,300 employees and powers 1.15 million homes. It generates 2,300 megawatts of energy. It is located near the Dallas/Fort Worth area and supplies much of their power.

The Bay City Reactor, STP has 1,200 employees and powers 2 million homes. It produces 2,700 megawatts of energy. It is located close to Houston and San Antonio and supplies much of the two cities power.

Bryan / College Station has a 1 megawatt reactor located on campus at A&M University, used for research and academic studies. This reactor is not used for power or economic purposes, and is rarely operated at the same level as any commercial reactor in use today. The relative risk of a meltdown anytime soon is low.

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Old 02-21-2021, 09:32 AM   #65
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Originally Posted by gearhead View Post
There's a lot that went into this catastrophe..
Heavy industry is not built for extended sub freezing conditions in Texas, and not likely anywhere else in the south. Maybe a bit more weather protection in the Texas panhandle though. Power plants, refineries, and gas plants are built for 99% of what conditions they will see. Is a refinery in Houston built different than in Wyoming? I would imagine so. Same thing with power plants. Same with wind turbines. Same thing with home building. Is that right, or the correct way of doing business? Maybe, maybe not.
Just looking at "home building", most houses around Louisiana (and I suspect Texas) are constructed with 2x4 exterior walls and aluminum "double pane windows". All of that is covered with 1/2" foam sheeting and then bricks with a 1" weep space between the foam and the bricks. Our contractor, when we built our house in Pineville was adamant not to use 2x6 exterior walls and fiberglass windows/doors. His response to my concerns: "Hell, we don't do things that way around here". My response: "Then maybe I need to find a new contractor because I'm paying you to build what I want, not what you want.".... Our house had 2x6 exterior walls and special order windows/doors... That meant R-19 wall insulation not R-13, just as a start.

According to the people who bought our house when we moved up here, theirs is the only house in that sub-division that didn't have water leaks and frozen pipes this past week. Other houses are flooded with walls "flowing water and ceilings falling in"...

The excuse I got from the contractor was, "That'll cost way more than any house in this area to build".

I'd suspect it's no different in building a refinery, a generating plant, a pipeline pumping station or any other part of the industrial complex. It looks like much of the "southern industry" didn't invest the extra expense to protect against that "100 year disaster"...

Right or wrong, everybody in Texas is being affected by the "investment strategy" the energy industry used. Big question, I suppose, is what they do to fix it or if they decide to "just live with the risk and hope for better weather for the next 100 years"..... Certainly, there's no easy answer....

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Old 02-21-2021, 09:35 AM   #66
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According to this article, two nuke plants in Texas. I can't guarantee this info is accurate but it looks authentic.

https://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/ta...ergy-in-texas/


Highlights of this article:
quote...

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that Texas is among the 10 states with the greatest nuclear power generation capacity in the nation, with Texas accounting for almost 5% of the national total. Nuclear power makes up less than 5% of Texas’s total electric capacity, but produces almost 10% of the state’s electricity, third behind natural gas and coal. The Lone Star State exports roughly 2% of the electricity it generates.
There are two operating nuclear power plants in Texas. The South Texas Project (STP) is in Matagorda County near Bay City, about 90 miles southwest of Houston. Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant is in Somervell County near Glen Rose, TX, about 40 miles south of Fort Worth. Both have twin reactors.
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Old 02-22-2021, 03:11 AM   #67
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Originally Posted by SummitPond View Post
Jim

According to this article there are four nuclear units in TX (all PWRs) and only one tripped off due to low steam generator levels (no reason provided for that occurrence).

To summarize: "The shutdown of the reactor, one of the state's four, has played a relatively small role in Texas' power crisis, representing about 1,280 megawatts of the 30,000 megawatts of outages at the peak of the crisis Monday. Nuclear power normally provides about 11% of Texas's electricity.

Many of the state’s gas plants were knocked out from icy conditions, and some plants shut down from being unable to access the fuel they need because producing wells froze.

Wind turbines froze, too, but to a lesser extent."

Did you ever work at Grand Gulf in MS or River Bend in LA?
Thanks for the update, It's good to know some of these are still running.

Never got to LA or MS. I was making rounds doing a factory update at new installations on one part of the turbines and also training local service shop folks on the change. Was only in each place for a couple days. Waco, Huston, Corpus Cristy, Marshall, and San Antonio if I recall correctly, it's been a few years and straining this old brain. I do remember quite well how hot it was as I was there in July. I also hit a lot of places on the east coast. NC, SC, GA, FL. Sadly I never got to spend any time in those great places.
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