Clinton Power Station is certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council, Harris says, which recognizes company efforts to preserve the site’s natural environment.
“We have eagles here,” he says. “Wildlife love it.”
Redundancy (systems of checks, double checks and backups for every visitor, employee and piece of machinery) is emphasized at Clinton Power Station again and again. Redundancy is key, Stovall says, because it ensures safety. Backup generators ensure that everything runs in case of a power outage. On the floor, bright green barriers are painted two feet around all equipment that could potentially give someone an electrical shock. Most doors are interlocking, meaning one must be shut before another can open.
Diesel generators run what Stovall calls the “backup battery.” It’s a whole bank of power that’s independent from the rest of the station, and can keep the turbines turning up to two days in a power outage.
“This is where we get electricity when we’re not making electricity,” he says. “When I’m in here, I feel like a little kid standing on railroad tracks, watching a huge train go by at full speed. That’s how powerful these are.”
To track radiation levels, employees wear TLDs, or thermoluminescent dosimeters, on their chests. Safety officers can use computers to track anyone’s radiation level at any time. On their way out, employees must also step into a full-body scanner, which also records radiation exposure.
“It’s all about backup,” Stovall says. If someone comes out of the station with a higher level of radiation than normal, they are contained in a waiting room until the levels come down. Most exposure is relatively low, Harris says. He notes that his TLD meter’s total is one millirem. Doses of 20-50 millirems cause the body’s white blood cell count to temporarily decrease, while 50-100 millirems spur mild radiation sickness, with a headache and increased risk of infection due to a fewer dis ease-fighting cells; temporary male sterility is also possible at this level.
Harris, a Mississippi native, tells stories of his past projects, where employees or visitors have had to leave objects behind because they couldn’t manage to clear them of radiation.
“One time I was wearing a nylon wind suit, and it took me forever to clear the machines,” he laughs. “Another time, we had to buy a man a new pair of snakeskin boots, because the boots ended up trapping radiation, and they weren’t safe to wear out of the station.”
Past nuclear accidents like Chernobyl and Three Mile Island (which is also owned by Exelon Nuclear) mean some people don’t trust nuclear power, Kanavos says. But he reminds the public that it’s a highly regulated industry, with many safety precautions. This year, Kanavos held a breakfast for Clinton Power Station employees, celebrating 20 million man hours without a single accident. There are more accidents by real estate brokers than nuclear power employees, he says.
Kanavos says his employees are spreading the word about the safety of the nuclear industry.
“All 675 people have a positive network with their friends and family,” he says. “They emphasize our positive attitude.”
Clinton Power Station’s permit will expire in 2026, and sometime before then the company will need to ask for an a 20-year extension in order to continue operating the reactor. After about 60 years, nuclear power stations are no longer viable, he says.
Kraft says any request for an extension should be denied because of the storage issues.
“How can you go for another 20 years when you haven’t solved the problems in the last 40 years?” he asks.
When the time is up, Exelon Nuclear will return the land to a green field.
“We’ll restore it to essentially a landscape,” Kanavos says. “It’ll be like we were never even here.”
Contact Diane Ivey at [email protected].