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About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 1971)
Nuclear Power Plants A Coiring Reality Bra Morrow County 1 I f I iTURBitf m. 1 CCAL CAS CIL FIE ED B.gmntr.g in we U1 need - Kirs .rb a Jb? JSnSSli? loVrboTs mrisblti Output of nine new nuclear power plant, " The demand for HtrWnr i. ZJeJ" &tf?AWiS plant The heat from the burmne al ud to tSwdekSed bSck to water and returned to the boi or. erstor producing eltnc Power Imourtt heat U med from tt steam. This heat is then put Into the coolinR Dunne the condensing process rf h nmnL Onlv pTrt of the heat from the coal Is converted to electric- water and winds up as thermal fcj'Hl"?n ZzZj to the cooline water. Thus, for every 1.000 megawatts 7rX iaAStteffiffiVW can be minimized by mtii r irnratln Morrow County', arid lands, a multiple use). , , . . ., UT1licirilble features It reouires about 10,000 tons of coal a day for a 1.000 megawatt K Ja SHSM Wrf ?M turned rne eoaL in "udv toSfby the Health. Education, and Welfare Department "was rented that a TVA coal fired plant rave a rreater racuuion dose to the environment than a pressurized water reactor Power. April. 1970). The cast of power trom a new coal fwd plant is about five mills per kilowatt hour. INOIMCT CYCU fSSUifD HATfR POWTR PIAVT (Till .. ' I "1 ! i. r i ' 'rr i i ' i . - A Source of Irrigation Water Trrs d ac-arn is of a nuclear reactor power plant The main difference between the nuclear plant and the coal plant is that the water to boiled bv usine the heat from nuclear fuel. The rest of the cycle is essentially identical. As In the coal Plant the steam is condensed back to water and returned to the reactor to be reheated again. The nuclear plant cycle is less efficient than the coal plant In the nuclear power plant about 33 of the heat from the reactor is converted to elec tricity. The remaining 67Tr could be distributed in the irrigation water. The nuclear power plant, which consumes four ounces of uranium oxide per day per megawatt, is cleaner than a coal fired plant because the nuclear plant does not give off any air pollutants. It will produce electric power for about three to four mills per kilowatt hour. A variation of the nuclear power plant called a pressurized water reactor (PWR) is shown in this diagram. In this cycle the water in the reactor Is under 2.000 psi pressure and does not boil. The water from the reactor passes through a heat exchanger (called a steam generator) and causes the water in the secondary side to boil. Steam from the heat exchang er then passes through the turbine. The Trojan nuclear plant to be built by the Portland General Electric Company is an example of a Pressurized Water Reactor. Cooling towers presum ably would not be used in Morrow County instead of cooling the water in this tower it would be used for irrigation. Model of Portland Gen cal Electric Trojan Nu clear Power Plant I f T The Atomic Energy Com mission requires very strong, leak tight, steel and concrete structures completely enclosing the reactor; designed to con tain radioacttvitr even if all other usual safety fea tures were to fail due to accident, earthquake or other hazards. All thermal power plants will release heat. About one million gallons of water per minute are required for cooling the condenwr. This water Is normally heated about 20 degrees F. In the future this heated water may be used to grow greenhouse crops such as lettuce and tomatoes. The most promising beneficial use of the water m the near future is for irrigation. A 1.000 megawatt plant can provide enough water to irrigate about 200,000 acres. However, when sprayed into the air the heat dissipates quickly. In order to use the water for irrigation it will be necessary to have a pressure system and a drainage system. Another variation would be to build the reactor near a reservoir. The reactor could use the reservoir as a cooling pond and also pump water from the river to the reservoir. Irrigation water could then be taken from the reservoir but it would be limited. In addition to the heat released in the water all nuclear power plants release small amounts of radio-active material. This material consists mostly of radio-active gases of argonne. xenon, krypton, and iodine. Also, liquids containing tritium and radio-active Iron and zinc are released. The dose of radiation to people In the area is yery low from the reactor plants. The average dose from plants operating today is less than 5 millirem per year. In many cases the dose is actually below one millirem per year. To put this in perspective let's compare this to other sources of radiation in the environment. The natural radiation In the environment (called the background) is about 125 millirem per year. Over 25 times as much as a reactor might add. An average chest X-ray gives about 200 millirem. A set of four dental bite wing X-rays gives over 800 millirem. In Denver. Colorado, the background is about 250 millirem per year. There are many ways one can get five millirem of radiation Instead of standing next to a reactor power plant Four examples are listed below. Each of these will give you five millirem of radiation. 1. Fly by let from Portland to New York and return at 35.000 feet (Dose from cosmic radiation). 2. Spend ten days vacation at a mountain resort above 6,000 feet. 3. Go skiing five weekends above 6,000 feet. 4. Live across the street from the U. N. building. (Dose from the earth materials used in construction). In summary, nuclear power Is the cleanest and cheapest form of thermal power we can build. Additionally, it offers the possibilities of Irrigating large areas of land. Source of Nuclear Material Dr. Alan H. Robinson. Associate Professor Nuclear Engineering. Oregon State University Morrow County Nuclear Plant Siting Sanction Committee JERRY SWEENEY. Chairman Heppner MARION CREEN Heppner CLARENCE ROSEWALL Heppner ROY lone UNDSTROM Heppner, Oregon 97836 D. O. NELSON Lexington GENE PIERCE Heppner ELAINE GEORGE Heppner FORREST BURKENBLNE Heppner BENNY McCOY Irrigon HAROLD KERR Heppner ZEARL GILLESPIE Boardman RUPERT KENNEDY Boardman Morrow County's concepts of nuclear power plant siting with coolant water Irrigation (shown below) employs many multiple uses of our natural resources. The coolant water can also be used for recreation, fish and wildlife ponds, city and industrial water, ground water recharge, fallow land recharge, greenhouses, frost control and possibly city heating. This procedure is Oregon's best way to acquire its fair share of Columbia water soon er, and to prevent export to other states. 1 jKJr 1 I I 1 1 I - I i I i U.S. MVX k VS; J " JL (to be releas sd , 1 . . SJWO HO LOW j ' I ' ; w-- - :. ' 1 1 t t 1 ; ; m ; r Ease Line Eoal -I " " ; . . . -i Mfuclsar lower Park - Future ; jl .1 .- IONE GARLAND SWANSON President OSCAR PETERSON Vice President JOHN R. (DICK) KREBS Secretary tPort of Morrow MORROW COUNTY CITY HALL BOARDMAN. OREGON 97813 PHONE 431-2693 Area Code (503) LAWRENCE LINDSAY Treasurer DEWEY W. WEST. JR. Commissioner RUPERT W. KENNEDY Coordinator