AVVBA members travel to the Plant Vogtle to learn about nuclear energy
AVVBA | Published on 8/30/2024
Intrepid AVVBA group seeks answers to nuclear energy at Plant Vogtle
Glowing with enthusiasm, if not radiation, are trip members Ed Ettel, Bill Lusk, Rich Moushegian, Bob Hoplins, Rick Leake, Skip Bell, Glenn Carr, Jeff Hoffman, Mark Walker, Paul Ebel (trip organizer), Pete Alexander, Bruce Avery, Ham McDonald, Jon Bird, Yoshii Bird, John Butler, Jay Pryor and Terry White.
It was early in the morning when 17 AVVBA members and one intrepid wife hopped on two mini-buses for an adventurous ride down to the Alan W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant. The first bus out the gate was driven by John "Leadfoot" Butler. Another small group rode in the second bus, known as the Chase Bus, adeptly driven by Skip "How fast is that guy going" Bell, who spent 2 &1/2 hours trying to catch Butler's bus on the way down.
Arriving at Plant Vogtle, we met Paul Ebel, who set up this tour and had lunch provided for us, and Mike McCracken, communications coordinator for Plant Vogtle.Our classroom presentation covered all forms of energy production, plus the politics and delays behind Plant Vogtle's newest reactors, Number Three and Number Four, the first nuclear reactors built in the US in decades. McCracken was extremely knowledgeable about nuclear facilities around the world, and he also covered the plus and minus factors of solar, wind, coal-fired, gas-fired and oil-fired energy creation.
A driving tour of the facility followed the briefing, and it was equally exciting. At one point, McCracken was about to turn left in his Georgia Power bus, when he discovered a guard in a moving truck, right below his window. After this close call and a short discussion, the guard circled back to Butler's bus (painted unmarked terrorist black), and another short discussion ensued. No shots were fired. Of course this driving tour and the tour's time were prearranged, but there is always someone who didn't get the word - like the security guard.
For those of you who like photos, please click this link for Jay Pryor's photos.
After a nice lunch, the well-informed group jumped back (OK, they crawled slowly back) into their mini-buses and left Plant Vogtle, just in time for a short but heavy rain storm. Skip Bell's bus led the way, but that didn't last long. Both buses got back about 11 hours after the journey's start, with tired but educated passengers, who were prayerfully glad of their safe return.