4/23/2025
Today is one of my most memorable days of my entire adventure. I got to tour a nuclear power plant. I drove up to the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant around noon today. This is the newest nuclear plant and also produces the most power of a single plant in the USA.
I got there a little early so I decided to walk around the parking lot and take some pictures before my tour guide got there. After taking pics and getting back to the van security rolls up next to me. They ask if I was taking pictures and what I was doing there. I answered and then he called the office to verify my story. He cleared me and I went into the lobby to wait.
My guide was about a half hour late. He was doing another tour for some company. I hung out and read about the plant until he was ready. Once he got to me he asked what I had all seen in the building and I said I only say the lobby. We walked around the education center and he showed me the models of the reactor units and some maps of nuclear plants around the world.
After we left the education center we got into a van and we started the real tour. The first thing we saw was the area that they store the spent nuclear fuel. They are stored in metal containers that are then put into concrete casks to be stored onsite. They have enough room to store eighty years worth of spent fuel onsite. There is so little waste that they can store all of it on a couple acres.
Next, we drove by the gate and offices. All of the units are surrounded by a 15ft fence with full on armed guard towers every few hundred feet. That’s how they spotted me earlier. We got a good vantage of the units and security portal from here.
We drove a around to the other side of the plant again to get to the real show. This was the most impressive part for me. We got right up next to the cooling towers. Unless you see them up close you have no idea of the scale. They are enormous. I was able to walk right up to the edge and get splashed by the water. Besides skyscrapers and ships this is one of the biggest things I’ve ever seen. He explained the difference between units 1/2 and 3/4. Three and four are the newest design of pressurized water reactor by Westinghouse.
As a engineering/infrastructure nerd this is a highlight. I wish I could’ve gone inside though.
