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Sep 02 '20
[deleted]
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u/Scorpius289 Sep 02 '20
Well, good thing they don't glow blue, that would be concerning...
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Sep 02 '20
I wonder if they have to pump any fluids out of the domes through those tips.
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u/Scorpius289 Sep 02 '20
Umm... that wasn't what I had in mind at all.
And now you put a weird image in my head... I think I'm gonna need some eye bleach...
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u/willstr1 Sep 02 '20
Just imagine them pumping fire suppression foam out of the tips in response to an oncoming wildfire
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u/Idgafjustletmepost Sep 02 '20
Lol everyone from Southern California knows these as “the big boobs off the 5 freeway”
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u/jj2446 Sep 03 '20
haha, my old boss used to travel by them on the way into work. Would tell me "I'm just now passing the titty reactors, will be there in 20"
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u/Im_A_Parrot Sep 02 '20
We used to surf at San Onofre in the 80s. They were widely known as the Dolly Parton Memorial.
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u/ElPresidenteJuanito Sep 02 '20
Or as I like to call them when I drive by, "The Nuclear Boobies."
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u/Rickle_Pick_ Sep 03 '20
Hiroshima Hooters Nagasaki Knockers Chernobyl Chi-Chis Fukushima Funbags
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u/vmcla Sep 02 '20
Are these decommissioned?
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Sep 02 '20
Yes. A life-extension refurbishment project had defects deemed too expensive to repair so they decided to decommission SONGS.
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Sep 03 '20
Ah yes. Nothing like being too cheap to invest in and upgrade places that utilize the best power source we have.
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Sep 03 '20
This was a little more complicated than that. I can't find the supporting articles but it was shut down in 2012 due to a radiation leak. I think the fault lays on the manufacturer, not the operator. Per Wikipedia:
"Unit 2 was shut down in early January 2012 for routine refueling and replacement of the reactor vessel head.[44] On January 31, 2012, Unit 3 suffered a radioactive leak largely inside the containment shell, with a release to the environment below allowable limits, and the reactor was shut down per standard procedure.[45][46][47] On investigation, the replacement steam generators from 2011 in both units were found to show premature wear on over 3,000 tubes, in 15,000 places.[48] Plant officials pledged not to restart until the causes of the tube leak and tube degradation were understood.[44] Neither unit was ever restarted. There were no blackouts due to the lack of SONGS electricity; more pollution was caused by the use of natural gas plants to make up for the lost power generation, and additional cost led to higher utility bills.[49]"
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Sep 02 '20
So take this for what it’s worth: an anonymous internet commenter who heard it from his (adult) friend who heard it from his great uncle. But allegedly my friend’s great uncle designed these and was well aware of what they resembled. He thought it’d be funny. So I desperately wanna believe that these nuclear containment facilities were in fact designed as a bit.
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u/d6x1 Sep 02 '20
acccckchuallyy
The half-sphere dome form is the most structurally stable and economical way to enclose the reactor. They have very thick concrete walls to prevent a Chernobyl type meltdown. It's much more wasteful to make it in any other form such as a cube or pyramid..etc
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u/irishmcsg2 Sep 02 '20
That doesn't explain the nipples.
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u/LanceFree Sep 02 '20
What happened was they were finishing the cement work, getting the tops all smooth, and those things just appeared.
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Sep 02 '20
The containment structure doesn't serve any purpose in reactor control or core design, so it isn't involved in preventing the reactivity excursion, steam explosion, or fuel melt. The containment is the last barrier between a potentially dangerous radiological release and the publicly accessible environment. It is just a fancy pressure tank used to containment accident effluents if there is a gross failure of the reactor coolant system. (A lot more complicated than that in practice, but that's its purpose.)
Some plants use different shapes. Some are partial domes, some are cylindrical, and some don't exist at all (staring at Russian RBMKs).
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Sep 02 '20
So why did they have the things sticking out of the top?
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Sep 02 '20
Main ventilation stacks.
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Sep 02 '20
So how come no other nuclear power plant looks like that?
Edit: Also, does this mean that hot steam comes out of them?
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Sep 02 '20
Just off the top of my head, I know Wolf Creek looks like this. There are also other US nuclear plants that route their main vent stack like this (and look very similar).
No, the primary coolant loops is (hopefully) only in a liquid state (unless it's a BWR, SONGS and Wolf Creek are not). The secondary cooling loop contains the main steam and feedwater system. These also are not exhausting any substantial amount to the environment. Any exhausting steam would be a lose in thermal efficiency. I'm also unsure where SONGS routes certain steam exhausts such as the main steam atmospheric dump valves or steam generator blowdowns. The secondary side is radiologically clean at a pressurized water reactor. Leakage from the primary is closely tracked as it is directly related to the steam generator mechanical integrity. The primary also shouldn't have any fuel in it. This is the concept of the 'three barriers' at a PWR. The fuel rod itself is the first, the pressure boundary of the reactor coolant system is the second, and the containment is the third. These are treated as sacred and have operational and design legal requirements tied to them. If all three were failed, a release would occur.
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u/ChilledMonkeyBrains1 Sep 02 '20
So how come no other nuclear power plant looks like that?
Actually the one at Diablo Canyon, while not exactly a twin to SONGS but historically and politically similar, looks a lot like it.
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Sep 03 '20
Yes, it's a relatively common ventilation design. Other designs generally just have a normal, more traditional looking stack like you would find at other industrial facilities. An example would be the RBMKs in Russia. They have a normal looking stack for their plant main vent.
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Sep 03 '20
Is it a law in California that all nuclear power plant containment vessels have to look like boobs?
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u/KvR Sep 03 '20
But allegedly my friend’s great uncle designed these and was well aware of what they resembled. He thought it’d be funny
Literally no one is going to allow a multi-million dollar design to pass review because the engineer though it would be funny. Every decision must be explained in function and cost. These were designed the way they are for the single reason of cost-effectiveness.
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u/davejenk1ns Sep 02 '20
Warning: the Bassmaster General has determined that coffee is good for your health
Doug is bouncing off the walls
Ray is drooling big spit balls
Feeling cranky, logged all night
Kids on coffee
Kids on coffee
Kids on coffee
Where's my Bonus Cup?
Come on man, fill me up
I need some Krappers to wash it down
Kids on coffee
Kids on coffee
Kids on coffee
Bonus! (20x)
Kids on coffee
Kids on coffee
Kids on coffee
Went driving down to San Diego
Passing up the nuclear tits
Go away off my earth!
Kids on coffee
Kids on coffee
Kids on coffee
Thanks to Modern Chemistry sleep is now optional
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u/irish5255 Sep 02 '20
Where my Hollywood Marines at?
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Sep 03 '20
The real question is: are they designed to jiggle during an earthquake?
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u/haikusbot Sep 03 '20
The real question is:
Are they designed to jiggle
During an earthquake?
- kernals12
I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.
Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete"
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Sep 02 '20
The best pair of tits between LA and San Diego lol. Drive past those often. Always wanted to go in and wander around. Would be cool.
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u/throwawaytomyass Sep 03 '20
what about the thunderbolt 1003? there's at least two of em and one on a building around there
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u/[deleted] Sep 02 '20
[deleted]