Coincidence

Thought this was pretty interesting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98OTsYfTt-c

Vogtle Trip

I took a trip finally to Plant Vogtle, a nuclear power plant about 30 minutes from where I grew up. I went home Thursday night so that I could wake up at 10 instead of 7 in the morning with all the others from Tech. I arrived at the visitors center 15 minutes before everyone else, and had the opportunity to talk to the two gentlemen who were doing the info presentation of the facility. I enjoyed speaking to them, since we were from the same area and thus better relate with each other. When everyone finally showed up and the presentation over, we were split into groups of 5 and had a GT alumni take us on a tour of the plant. Our guide didn't seem too enthusiastic and, for that reason, I think a lot of the fun of the experience of going was taken away. We went through security which took about 15-20 minutes and walked toward the turbines. It was quite interesting seeing security armed to the teeth (automatic, hand gun, etc.) just walking around smiling and also the fact that we were told that if we were caught without our guide we were considered targets to security so they would come at us with guns drawn (maybe they would come at us smiling too). We were given safety helmets, glasses, and ear plugs, and were to wear them after we passed a gate (didn't hear this tidbit of info). I wasn't wearing my glasses and as we were walking I looked back and saw this guy walking in the same direction as we were. A few moments later I look over and he's beside me walking with us and tells me to put my safety glasses on, so I do, and then he disappears into a building. We go and see the turbines, which I wasn't too interested in and then headed towards the control room. Before we got there though, I saw the same man who told me to put my safety glasses on and he was staring at me as if we shouldn't be there and that were disrupting their work. Actually, I saw a few people with that same look, not to say there weren't people there that enjoyed us being there. So, anyways, we get to the control room it has two areas those in which the floor was red and those which weren't. We were not allowed to step on the red, which was the area where all the switches and buttons were controlling the reactor (that carpet was red with the blood of those whom stepped across the line, at least that is what I think). That seemed pretty cool but a very boring job since you stare at a screen all day and only when something bad happens does the job become exciting. So, not for me. Due to time we weren't allowed to see much more of the interior of the facility (which pissed me off). We did however get a tour of the outer area of the plant. First, we drove by the cooling towers, which were awesome. The base is visible and you can see water just raining down inside. And these things are massive. 2x the height of the Statue of Liberty, or so they said. After passing the cooling towers, we were shown the part of the Savannah River they pumped their water for the cooling towers from, which is the same area they received parts of the reactor and possibly the same area where they will receive the parts for the new reactors they are going to be constructing there. They also showed us where they will be building the new reactors and where the security trains (one of these areas was a hill that had been shot at for 20+ years). After that we were brought back to the visitors center where we waited for the rest to return. We took a group photo and parted. Overall I enjoyed the trip (though a more enthusiastic tour guide would have been appreciated. It was good to finally see something that I had looked at as I grew up over the years and that has shaped the direction in which my studies and interests have been.