What do the Arkansas Nuclear One Unit 2, Beaver Valley Unit 1, Beaver Valley Unit 2, Big Rock Point, Callaway, Calvert Cliffs Unit 1, Calvert Cliffs Unit 2, Catawba Unit 2, Comanche Peak Unit 1, Comanche Peak Unit 2, Connecticut Yankee, Cooper, Diablo Canyon Unit 1, Diablo Canyon Unit 2, Donald C. Cook Unit 1, Edwin I. Hatch Unit 1, Edwin I. Hatch Unit 2, Fort Calhoun, HB Robinson, Indian Point Unit 1, Indian Point Unit 2, Indian Point Unit 3, James A. FitzPatrick, Joseph M. Farley Unit 1, Joseph M. Farley Unit 2, Fermi Unit 2, Kewaunee, LaSalle Unit 1, Maine Yankee, Marble Hill, McGuire Unit 1, Millstone Unit 1, Millstone Unit 2, Millstone Unit 3, Nine Mile Point Unit 1, Oyster Creek, Palisades, Palo Verde Unit 1, Palo Verde Unit 2, Palo Verde Unit 3, Pilgrim, Point Beach Unit 2, Salem Unit 1, Salem Unit 2, San Onofre Unit 1, San Onofre Unit 2, San Onofre Unit 3, Seabrook, South Texas Project Unit 1, South Texas Project Unit 2, St. Lucie Unit 1, St. Lucie Unit 2, Vogtle Unit 1, Vogtle Unit 2, Waterford, and Wolf Creek nuclear power reactors have in common?
True, they are all mentioned in this same question. But the subject commonality has a broader dimension.
Also true, they are all located on planet earth. But the subject commonality has a narrower dimension.
Hint: Check out the title of this commentary.
Yes, the reactor vessels for all these nuclear plants, and many others worldwide, were manufactured by Combustion Engineering at their factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Indeed, the Chattanooga factory made the vessels for boiling water reactors like FitzPatrick and Pilgrim, for Westinghouse pressurized water reactors like Diablo Canyon and Indian Point and for Combustion Engineering pressurized water reactors like Palo Verde and Waterford.
In the days before FedEx, how did reactor vessels made in the hills of east Tennessee get to so many locations coast to coast? The Tennessee River winds through Chattanooga and empties into the Mississippi River. Whenever possible, the reactor vessels were lifted onto barges in Chattanooga and floated to the plant sites. For example, the Unit 1 reactor vessel for the Nine Mile Point nuclear plant in Oswego, New York took the scenic route down the Tennessee River, up the Mississippi River, up the Illinois River, across four of the five Great Lakes.
Fig. 1 (Source: Daily Standard (October 7, 1966))
It took 29 days for Pilgrim’s reactor vessel to make the 3,587-mile journey down the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers, across the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic coast to Plymouth, Massachusetts. (The plant is scheduled to permanently shut down by June 2019. On behalf of my fellow citizens of Chattanooga, the current owner should check out the “No Return” provision in the contract.)
Fig. 2 (Source: UPI Telephoto published in News Journal (March 4, 1970))
The Unit 1 reactor vessel for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in southern California began its 2,000-mile journey on a barge, was transferred onto a freighter for passage through the Panama Canal, was transferred back onto a barge, and then loaded onto a train car for delivery to the site.
Fig. 3 (Source: Daily Republican (April 23, 1965))
Not all the journeys were event-free. The Unit 3 reactor vessel for the Indian Point nuclear plant in Buchanan, New York was dropped on January 12, 1971, as it was being unloaded at the plant. Well, it was not actually dropped. It underwent an “unscheduled descent during its installation” at the plant. An overhead crane rated for 175-tons was being used to lift the 456-ton package of reactor vessel and shipping rig. Somehow, the motor for the 175-ton rated crane became overheated as it was lifting the 456-ton load. The 456-ton load had been raised from its original horizontal configuration to nearly the vertical (i.e., 90°) position when the lift was halted to let the overheated crane motor cool down. The 175-ton crane’s hoist failed, dropping the load—or letting the load make its unscheduled descent back to the horizontal position.
Fig. 4 (Source: Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
Scientists from Oak Ridge, representatives of Combustion Engineering in Chattanooga, and workers from Westinghouse huddled to determine whether the unscheduled descent of the reactor vessel resulted in its unscheduled dis-use. They reviewed results from magnetic particle and ultrasonic examinations and concluded the vessel could be used.
Scientists from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory traveled to Buchanan to view the Unit 3 reactor vessel. They heard contradictory accounts as to the position of the reactor vessel when it began its unscheduled descent. Some eyewitnesses said the vessel and rig were about three feet off the ground. Others insisted it was not off the ground at all. Similarly, the scientists received varying accounts of how long it took the vessel to complete its unscheduled decent. Some eyewitnesses reported the descent took 15 seconds. Others claimed the descent went on for nearly 60 seconds. The discrepancies might be attributed to the eyewitnesses making unscheduled departures from the vicinity.
UCS Perspective
UCS has staffed a remote office in Chattanooga for the past eight years. At the time, we knew the city was the location for the International Towing Museum, but did not realize that the city played such a prominent role in the development of nuclear power reactors in the United States. And as if making tow trucks and reactor vessels was not enough, but Moon Pies were invented in Chattanooga in 1917.
Chattanooga also has the offices for the Nuclear Division of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), with TVA’s Sequoyah Nuclear Plant within sight of downtown. Chattanooga also has the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Technical Training Center as well as a Westinghouse training facility.
But Chattanooga no longer makes reactor vessels. Combustion Engineering scaled back manufacturing at the factory as demand for nuclear components dwindled in the U.S. and abroad. In 2007, the nearly idled manufacturing plant was acquired by French-based Alstom with intentions to make components to support the nuclear renaissance. The factory did not need a first shift, yet alone a second or third shift, to handle all the non-orders for reactor vessels and other nuclear plant parts. The factory closed shop in 2016.
But don’t despair. Chattanooga still makes Moon Pies and tow trucks.