this is Susquehanna nuclear power plant
in Berwick Pennsylvania
there are two nuclear reactors here each
with a cooling tower and together they
generate power for about two million
homes but right now one of the reactors
is shut down
the unit one reactor is getting a new
more efficient turbine every time a
turbine is shut down it puts stress on
the grid the plant has to buy power for
its customers from another source
now if everything goes according to plan
the outage will cost about 10 million
dollars but if anything goes wrong we
could be talking serious money nuclear
power plants like this one use the
process of nuclear fission to make heat
the heat converts water into steam and
the steam expands into a chain of
spinning turbines that turn a generator
and that makes electricity we’re here to
fix the high-pressure turbine getting
the old turbine apart is complicated the
outer casing alone tips the scales at
110 tons
next the 42-ton inner casing comes apart
finally we can get at the old 80 ton
rotor then the new one goes in every
lift has to be done with surgical
precision
the inner and outer casing finish the
job there’s nothing lightweight about
taking apart a nuclear power plant
turbine this top piece alone weighs 110
tons about as much as 50 pickup trucks
stacked on top of each other and it has
to come up perfectly level
we’ve got our four big cables coming
down off the hook they’re going to the
four corners and the lid wrapping around
the horn this is actually the seam right
there this is the top case this is the
bottom casing when we start to apply
force to this lift we’re going to peel
it apart right there and that’s where
the potential contamination is going to
be coming from right out inside that
crack getting really close to seeing
this thing flying out if it comes up
crooked it could scrape metal off the
blade carriers what they call galling I
can actually see turbine blades inside
there if little bits of Steel get left
behind they may find their way into the
new turbine it’s a relief when the outer
casing is clear
there goes we’re off but we’re not out
of the woods yet this casing has spent
the last two years in constant contact
with steam coming directly off the
radioactive core radioactive material
could be falling on the floor right now
as it moves across any area of the
ground that it covers becomes
potentially contaminated area so as it
comes towards us we’re all going to have
to push away
contamination is generally easy to clean
up as long as it stays on the outside of
your body as soon as the cover passes
overhead now get out all these swabs and
they swab up the deck underneath it
three days into the fix we’ve just got
the top off and that was the easy part
next comes the 42-ton inner casing then
the old rotor will be replaced with a
new more efficient one they’re almost
ready to take out the old rotor this is
going to be tricky because one end of
the rotor is a lot heavier than the
other end if the bearing starts coming
out we’ll stop take a dead blow
knock-down Jeff lays it out for the team
how the lift will go down just keep an
eye on it alright guys be safe we got a
plan time to rock and roll they’re also
a really tight fit so we’re gonna have
to lift really slowly in the first
couple feet to get it picked out of
there
finally it’s level that’s close enough
to pick it out
and they wrap it up to trap in any
contamination
there we go
this rotor supplied over a million homes
with electricity for five years the new
rotor taking its place along with some
other upgrades will get more power from
the same amount of nuclear fuel we go to
ships that pass in the night that’s the
old rotor just coming in is the brand
new rotor that’s waiting to go in right
behind it this is the heart of the beast
as precise as a Swiss watch only this
thing is German this is the big moment
I’m going to pick the rotor up drop it
into the place where it will be working
for the next few years we like to say
lower the rotor we hate to use or drive
I never use the word drop crosses man
yeah it’s worth five million dollars not
including the cost of having to shut
down the plant
there’s a lot hanging on getting this
piece in without a scratch
it’s a beautiful piece of steel now this
was pretty significant engineering feat
I mean they’re trying to locate this
thing within three dimensions it’s easy
to get it off kilter and scar the sides
and if they scar it it’s got to come out
there’s no option for failure here yeah
it’s a high tension moment because this
is if something drastic is wrong
thousand times it’s going to show itself
so they’ll go to the hardware store for
another one of these
nice the turbine rotor is finally in
position it’s almost time to put on the
last two pieces they discovered that the
new inner casing was just a little too
big to fit inside the outer casing so it
has to be pared down by just a bit
it’s soon ready to go on to the road Oh
a lot of weight to muscle around it’s
got the slide in right next to the
blades without touching them or scarring
them I got to get a picture of this
these guide pins set up and will keep
the orientation of these rotor blades
and the stationary blade carriers
perfectly vertical so as we slide it
down we don’t scar anything up that
piece is in place no mishaps one more to
go there’s our big case and this huge
piece of steel is kind of like the back
to the watch we already put in all the
watch works now we just put the back on
and then we’ll be able to start it up I
gotta say I’m impressed with what yes
ooh man hey really amazing I’m glad
you’re out there making power for people
that’s right got to be done that’s right
somebody’s got to do it knows that I’m
here to help
mission accomplished right on time
pretty soon there’ll be water vapor
coming out of that other tower and
they’ll be electricity rolling out over
the lines that means I’m good to go
in Berwick Pennsylvania
there are two nuclear reactors here each
with a cooling tower and together they
generate power for about two million
homes but right now one of the reactors
is shut down
the unit one reactor is getting a new
more efficient turbine every time a
turbine is shut down it puts stress on
the grid the plant has to buy power for
its customers from another source
now if everything goes according to plan
the outage will cost about 10 million
dollars but if anything goes wrong we
could be talking serious money nuclear
power plants like this one use the
process of nuclear fission to make heat
the heat converts water into steam and
the steam expands into a chain of
spinning turbines that turn a generator
and that makes electricity we’re here to
fix the high-pressure turbine getting
the old turbine apart is complicated the
outer casing alone tips the scales at
110 tons
next the 42-ton inner casing comes apart
finally we can get at the old 80 ton
rotor then the new one goes in every
lift has to be done with surgical
precision
the inner and outer casing finish the
job there’s nothing lightweight about
taking apart a nuclear power plant
turbine this top piece alone weighs 110
tons about as much as 50 pickup trucks
stacked on top of each other and it has
to come up perfectly level
we’ve got our four big cables coming
down off the hook they’re going to the
four corners and the lid wrapping around
the horn this is actually the seam right
there this is the top case this is the
bottom casing when we start to apply
force to this lift we’re going to peel
it apart right there and that’s where
the potential contamination is going to
be coming from right out inside that
crack getting really close to seeing
this thing flying out if it comes up
crooked it could scrape metal off the
blade carriers what they call galling I
can actually see turbine blades inside
there if little bits of Steel get left
behind they may find their way into the
new turbine it’s a relief when the outer
casing is clear
there goes we’re off but we’re not out
of the woods yet this casing has spent
the last two years in constant contact
with steam coming directly off the
radioactive core radioactive material
could be falling on the floor right now
as it moves across any area of the
ground that it covers becomes
potentially contaminated area so as it
comes towards us we’re all going to have
to push away
contamination is generally easy to clean
up as long as it stays on the outside of
your body as soon as the cover passes
overhead now get out all these swabs and
they swab up the deck underneath it
three days into the fix we’ve just got
the top off and that was the easy part
next comes the 42-ton inner casing then
the old rotor will be replaced with a
new more efficient one they’re almost
ready to take out the old rotor this is
going to be tricky because one end of
the rotor is a lot heavier than the
other end if the bearing starts coming
out we’ll stop take a dead blow
knock-down Jeff lays it out for the team
how the lift will go down just keep an
eye on it alright guys be safe we got a
plan time to rock and roll they’re also
a really tight fit so we’re gonna have
to lift really slowly in the first
couple feet to get it picked out of
there
finally it’s level that’s close enough
to pick it out
and they wrap it up to trap in any
contamination
there we go
this rotor supplied over a million homes
with electricity for five years the new
rotor taking its place along with some
other upgrades will get more power from
the same amount of nuclear fuel we go to
ships that pass in the night that’s the
old rotor just coming in is the brand
new rotor that’s waiting to go in right
behind it this is the heart of the beast
as precise as a Swiss watch only this
thing is German this is the big moment
I’m going to pick the rotor up drop it
into the place where it will be working
for the next few years we like to say
lower the rotor we hate to use or drive
I never use the word drop crosses man
yeah it’s worth five million dollars not
including the cost of having to shut
down the plant
there’s a lot hanging on getting this
piece in without a scratch
it’s a beautiful piece of steel now this
was pretty significant engineering feat
I mean they’re trying to locate this
thing within three dimensions it’s easy
to get it off kilter and scar the sides
and if they scar it it’s got to come out
there’s no option for failure here yeah
it’s a high tension moment because this
is if something drastic is wrong
thousand times it’s going to show itself
so they’ll go to the hardware store for
another one of these
nice the turbine rotor is finally in
position it’s almost time to put on the
last two pieces they discovered that the
new inner casing was just a little too
big to fit inside the outer casing so it
has to be pared down by just a bit
it’s soon ready to go on to the road Oh
a lot of weight to muscle around it’s
got the slide in right next to the
blades without touching them or scarring
them I got to get a picture of this
these guide pins set up and will keep
the orientation of these rotor blades
and the stationary blade carriers
perfectly vertical so as we slide it
down we don’t scar anything up that
piece is in place no mishaps one more to
go there’s our big case and this huge
piece of steel is kind of like the back
to the watch we already put in all the
watch works now we just put the back on
and then we’ll be able to start it up I
gotta say I’m impressed with what yes
ooh man hey really amazing I’m glad
you’re out there making power for people
that’s right got to be done that’s right
somebody’s got to do it knows that I’m
here to help
mission accomplished right on time
pretty soon there’ll be water vapor
coming out of that other tower and
they’ll be electricity rolling out over
the lines that means I’m good to go
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