I had a lot of fun. I got there a little early. Waited about 20 minutes until it opened. I started of at a visitor center called the PG&E Energy Education Center. I started by looking around at the exhibits. Here is a replica fuel assembly that I thought was neat.
Unfortunately I'm not so great a photography. After I looked around a little they had a lecture. Most of it stuff I already know, but one interesting fact is that Fukushima was only 20 feet above sea level, while Diablo Canyon is 85 feet above sea level. Quit the difference. The lecture left me with a nifty souvenir.
Its a plastic replica fuel pellet. On it is written that it is the equivalent of 149 gallons of oil, one ton of coal or 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas. Rather nicely done I thought.
After that we drove to the plant. They didn't let me take any pictures inside the plant, but I was allowed to take this one outside it.
Security was really tight. I didn't know nuclear power plants had so much security. Inside the plant was fairly normal looking for the most part. I got the see the turbine rooms which was really impressive. It was amazing to sit there and think about how much power is flowing through such a small area. I also got to look into the control room through a small window in the door. The dry cask waste storage was a lot smaller then I thought it would be. I was impressed by the number of things they changed in response to Fukushima.
Over all I would have to say I was very happy with the tour, and impressed by the whole operation. Also, it's nice to now be able say I've seen a nuclear power plant with my own eyes.
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