Today Joyce's Weekly Walks had a different sort of day out - a tour of Sizewell B Power Station.
Back in April Joyce sent this invite.
"Dear All - looking ahead to Tuesday June 27th. I have secured a tour of Sizewell B Power Station from 1pm-4pm with a walk before in the local area. We only have 10 places plus Nick and I . If interested then let me know asap."
I didn't join the morning walk but joined the others at the Visitor Centre shortly before our tour which started at 1pm with a briefing.
Some fun facts about the power station...
We got told how it worked in simple terms with a diagram a bit like this.
We then got kitted out in our PPE and posed for a group photo.
No cameras or phones were allowed on site, otherwise I'm sure I would have had plenty of photos to share.
Our two guides Anne and Clare then led us around the site, first passing through security where we had our IDs checked and were scanned for metallic objects before passing through the turnstiles.
The reactor is housed in a building with a dome that is larger than that of St Paul's cathedral. We weren't allowed in the reactor building, but here is what it looks like inside.
The reactor (grey, at lower centre) uses enriched uranium as a fuel. Energy is released as the atomic nuclei split (fission). This energy is used to heat pressurised water which then passes into the four steam generators (upper left and upper right). This water’s energy is transferred across a heat exchanger in the steam generator to boil water into steam. This high-pressure steam then passes out of a pipe at the top of the steam generator and is used to drive electrical turbines (not seen here).
The fuel assembly at the core is only 3m x 3m square by 4m tall and contains 93 modules. The reactor is shut down every 18 months and 1/3 of the duel rod assemblies are replaced.
The highlight of the tour to me was walking through the Turbine Hall. Sizewell B uses two full-speed, 3,000 RPM (50 Hz), nominal 660 MW turbo-alternator sets. We got to walk past the turbines and feel the vibration from their 3000rpm rotation. We were told that the tips of the turbine blades are moving at about twice the speed of sound.
Here is what the hall looks like inside.
Fascinating. You can see a lot of what we saw from this video.
Pop the video out for the best viewing experience.
A great tour. Highly recommended.
Afterwards most of met at The Fox Inn at Darsham for an excellent early evening meal...
... before driving home.
An excellent day out. Thank-you Joyce for organising it and Anne and Clare for the super tour.
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