Anchoring next to a nuclear reactor

LaRea

Interesting random fact: one of my favorite anchoring spots is within sight of the first nuclear power plant to ever produce commercial power in the US. 

It's called SM-1 (Stationary, Medium-size reactor, prototype #1).  The Army built it in 1955 as an example of a power plant that could be shipped to a remote area and assembled on-site for military needs.  SM-1 was primarily a training facility, but it also delivered power to the local grid, which had never been done before.

In this photo, you can see the white smokestack next to the containment dome.  It's a tiny facility ... maybe one acre inside a secure area at Fort Belvoir.  We anchor there all the time.  Actually, I used to work a couple hundred yards from there.  Don't worry, I only glow a little bit.

Handymans342

Wow

Michael T

....and warm water nearby?

checkmate

Here is my nuclear plant in my back yard.  Lake erie.  Fermi is the name of it.

Handymans342

Hillary will shut those down dont worry LOL

LaRea

OK, if @checkmate and I compare nuclear power plants, his definitely hangs lower than mine.

Handymans342

Al, coal was easier first

Black_Diamond

I have been in coal fired plants: filthy, coal dust everywhere, hot and high pressure steam pipes. I have also been in nuclear steam generating plants (technically, that is what they are) including inside the containment building amd within 30' of the reactor core: clean, lower syeam pressure, far less downtime than coal plants. I'd choose the nuclear over coal every day. 

BTW: cross the 'line' with your boat and you will get visitors with .50 caliber weapons locked and loaded. I've personally withnessed a boat escorted in by the CG on Lake Michigan from entering the "no-go" zone at the Palisades plant in SW Michigan. Boat searched, family searched. Whole works. 

LaRea

SM-1 was decommissioned 40 years ago, so there's no restricted zone on the water.  But I definitely would not test the security measures at an active plant!

Dream_Inn

There is one down in Solomon's, MD we got past frequently.  It's near where Handy used to live.  (yeah, explains a lot)

checkmate

Unfamiliar boaters go into the restricted waters next to plant all the time.   They sound a siren off telling the boaters they are in a restricted area and to leave or law enforcement will take over.   If hear it from my house and on a average summer weekend I hear it go off a least 10-20 times a weekend.   Mostly fisherman and jet skiers that have no clue what bouys mean.   

JC290

It can be entertaining to watch between the fermi and besse davis always some one in a restricted area. The look on their face when the guns show up is priceless. 

Cableguy Greg

checkmate said:

Unfamiliar boaters go into the restricted waters next to plant all the time.   They sound a siren off telling the boaters they are in a restricted area and to leave or law enforcement will take over.   If hear it from my house and on a average summer weekend I hear it go off a least 10-20 times a weekend.   Mostly fisherman and jet skiers that have no clue what bouys mean.   

If they would slow down and read the buoys, then they would know. Unfortunately a lot of people who own boats think they are there for decoration.

NavyCTRC

We used to boat on Lake Erie out of Toledo when I was a kid, Davis Bessie is the big nuke power plant there.  Several of them near the Great Lakes.

checkmate

I'm not gonna lie and say I never cut inside them.   I've done it a handful of times.  Usually trying to beat a storm back.   Those buoys by Fermi go out into lake every bit of 3/4 of a mile.   Usually the alarms don't go off until you are really close.   I've never shaved more than a 100 yards off a buoy.   I had a sheriff pass me once from behind when I was inside a buoy.  Didn't even realize he was coming up behind me.  He just passed me and waved and smiled.   He knew I was just trying to get home b/4 the rain.   My sister lives on the other side of Fermi.  So every time I go to her house by boat I have to deal with going around them.   It gets old after a while.     

212rowboat

here is an interesting one in the same vane at this topic:

Harvey Point is a CIA/DoD joint installation in the middle of nowhere Hyde county NC, and on the Albermarle Sound... 

I was out on a 37" rig heading towards ocracoke, using golden pond as a launch point for a week of bluefin fishing... there was nobody on the water and it was COLD... we knew we were approaching Harvey Point (been past it many times) but decided to cut the buoy anyway... and were QUICKLY ran down by armed men in a RHI wearing black utility uniforms and escorted to the barrier.  there is little known about Harvey Point other than the legends... I actually happen to know exactly what goes on there, but it isn't near so exciting as the legends, so- will leave it be...

if you're ever using the ICW in that area, realize it is STRONGLY defended, and they don't have much of a sense of humor.  those RHI's are at the ready with a react team 24/7/365... 

nhsd

I boat past the Beaver Valley nuclear power units in Shippingsport PA on the Ohio River regularly. As far as I know, there is no restricted zone, no warning bouys, no armed boats patrolling, etc. I have stopped right out from the plant in the river and taken pictures with no activity at all from any authorities. The river at that point is not all that wide, so I clearly was not far from the plant or the containment buildings. Here is a link to a google map street view from the bridge that runs right by it. You can see that there isn't really any river facilities for much security to operate from.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.6267695,-80.4319709,3a,75y,214.68h,87.42t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sa4YTNI1PPKSgNiraA_L8mw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

craigswardmtb

As a younger more naïve boater I found myself too close to here when Electric Boat was launching a nuclear submarine.  The CG quickly escorted me away... 

NavyCTRC

nhsd,

Civilian run power plants are not generally Nazi like for security measures.  They have likely discounted any real threats coming from the river for some reason.  It's only military or covert government sites that get antsy when you are in their waters.

Patrick

nhsd

The CG around here is far more pissy with the random jetskiers than with anyone poking around the nuclear power plants

Cableguy Greg

nhsd said:

The CG around here is far more pissy with the random jetskiers than with anyone poking around the nuclear power plants

Very true... They also stop the cruisers to make sure their macerator pumps are locked out with a pad lock.

Michael T

Greg, where we boat getting caught with a macerator that is not really locked-out is a huge fine. Some jurisdictions nearby are now requiring a crimped tag like on a hydro box.

LaRea

What?  It's legal to pump overboard as long as you are at least three miles from your home marina, right?    

The only place near me with restricted water is Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren.  They have a range on the Potomac where they occasionally do some spooky R&D stuff.  

Cableguy Greg

Mine is locked out with a small pad lock. Unfortunately there is one pump out station for all of the Pittsburgh area. It boggles my mind that the EPA and state DEP hasn't mandated pump out stations at all marinas or at least the marinas with fuel docks. If I am in the pool that has the pump out, I will use it. If not, I do pump overboard. I don't like doing that at all. What is ironic is that the Pittsburgh region is under an EPA mandate to eliminate 90% of the combined sewage overflows, but no one has looked at the boating community.

randy56

Poo, The pump out at my marina has not worked for 2 years, the next nearest one,  you have to lock through a dam and another 20 miles. In my house boat days, in a large lake, my boat neighbor was an engneer with a large barge company out of St Louis. MO They did a study, treated poo, in your holding tank disapates in 3-5 days. After pumping overboard. his study indcated the small amount boater's pump out would not have a negative impact on the waters enviroment. just sayin

Handymans342

They make an on-board treatment system that is legal to discharge overboard anywhere. I had it on my boat and replaced with a holding tank

LaRea

In DC, every big rain storm discharges probably a thousand times more raw sewage into the Potomac than the combined output of every boat on the river.  And even that is probably dwarfed by the chicken and pork industry ...  

But still, it must be nasty having to pump out where you go boating.  You guys should write up a Clean Vessel Act grant.

Handymans342

I know you love that Blue Plains smoke. LOL

frodo13056

I've been working in nuclear power generation for almost 31 years - the first 15 years at a site here in Illinois and the last 16 years working in Corporate dealing with the security systems at 13 nuclear sites - 2 in New York (Ginna, Nine Mile Point), 1 in New Jersey (Oyster Creek),  2 in Pennsylvania (Limerick, Peach Bottom), 1 in Maryland (Calvert Cliffs) and 7 sites in Illinois (Braidwood, Byron, Clinton, Dresden, LaSalle, Quad Cities and the now decommissioned Zion station). Most of our sites in Illinois are located on navigable sections of various rivers and sometimes, those security cameras capture some pretty entertaining stuff :-)
The Clinton station cooling lake is a very popular boating location for many folks - there are quiet a few Rinker owners on this site that boat on Clinton Lake. Their security zone is very clearly marked and they actually installed a "fence" to ensure boaters don't get too close to the water intake and discharge structures. 
What's pretty cool about this forum is that when folks talk about boating locations in the Northeast, I can relate to that since I've spent quite a bit of time out East and have been able to do some occasional site seeing. We have a vendor located in Annapolis and I've been out on the Severn river a few times - awesome boating for folks on the east coast for sure!

I took this picture of of the Braidwood Unit 1 reactor vessel being loaded with nuclear fuel - 1987:

This picture was also taken in 1987 during initial core load on Braidwood Unit 1:

LaRea

OK, I think @frodo13056 wins the "Closest Encounter with a Nuclear Reactor" award.

Handymans342

I thought his eyes were glowing red