YANKEE ROWE NUCLEAR POWER GENERATING STATION 72652

Created by the Western Massachusetts Electric Company "Pioneering with Power" presents an early view of the Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station. Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station (now decommissioned) was a nuclear power plant in Rowe, Massachusetts, that operated from 1960 to 1992.
The Yankee Nuclear Power Station (YNPS) - also known as "Yankee Rowe" - was the third[citation needed] commercial nuclear power plant built in the United States and the first built in New England. The 185-megawatt electric pressurized-water Yankee Rowe plant, located on the Deerfield River in the town of Rowe in western Massachusetts, tight on the border of Readsboro, Vermont, permanently shut down on February 26, 1992, after more than 31 years of producing electricity for New England electric consumers.
According to several sources Yankee Rowe was the first commercial PWR operating in the United States. This view discards the government-sponsored Shippingport Atomic Power Station, which was not built on a commercial basis and relied on several technologies that would not be embraced by the commercial operators. The Dresden Generating Station, a commercial boiling water reactor (BWR), slightly preceded the opening of Yankee Rowe in 1960. US government sources place the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction at Dresden-1 on 15 October 1959 and the first one at Yankee Row on 19 August 1960.[6] (These dates probably preceded the entering into commercial operation of either plant by several months.)
Construction of the plant was completed in 1960 at a cost of $39 million. The capital cost was $45 million against an estimated cost of $57 million, according to the engineering consultant Kenneth Nichols, who had been deputy to Leslie Groves on the Manhattan Project. During its 32-year operating history, the Yankee plant generated over 34 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, and had a lifetime capacity factor of 74%.
The plant, the first large-scale nuclear unit and the first privately owned pressurized-water plant, was shut down prematurely due to reactor pressure vessel embrittlement concerns,[8] a safety factor now scrutinized in all plants (see ductility).
Yankee Atomic Electric Company (YAEC) was incorporated in Massachusetts in 1954. YAEC was sponsored by ten New England utilities for the purpose of constructing and operating New England's first nuclear power plant, the Yankee Nuclear Power Station.
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[@Andyheritageable]

As a former President of the Yankee Atomic Electric Company (actually the last one during operation), I think this is a great film documenting the hard work of talented people. If we only could build plants as quickly and as well as the early pioneers did,. we would still have a vibrant nuclear indiustry. All employees of Yankee over the years should be very proud of their accomplishments from the early days through decommissioning. This plant shows the nuclear provmise of safe, clean and responsible electric generation has been fulfilled returning the plant site to what is was when we found it. The spent fuel that is stilll there is not Yankee's problem but the failure of the government to meet its promise. Andrew C. Kadak

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Thanks Andrew for your comments -- and for your service at Yankee. You are a great American.

[@donbrashsux]

You can be proud of the success..

[@12345timm]

This is a wonderful comment. I'm at Millstone station in CT and the nuclear history of New England is extremely important to me. This video is very informative and I appreciate it being on youtube.

[@Youre_Right]

It’s the Russians fault nuclear power plants became so taboo. If Chernobyl hadn’t happened then we would have so many more nuclear power plants. What happened at Chernobyl could never happen in America. We build containment buildings that would prevent it. Like TMI hardly any radiation leaked into the atmosphere. Yes there would be accidents, but do to our strict laws of construction requirements for nuclear reactors would prevent a full blown Chernobyl event. Like Fukushima in Japan. That was just as horrible as Chernobyl, but the containment buildings prevented the release of massive amounts of radiation.

[@darrylhaynes9208]

@@Youre_Right don't blame the Russians. The cowboys of autonomics international and rockidine were better at covering up there accidents. Look up ssfl and there sre accident right on the edge of Los Angeles. Makes 3 mile island look like joke

[@djm51x]

I was the QA engineer that shipped out this reactor vessel

[@PeriscopeFilm]

How sophisticated was it?

[@donbrashsux]

Are you serious David..that’s amazing

[@Tadesan]

Oh man. Did you have any key concerns? We quality? Heat treatment?

[@mrlucky4585]

Lies

[@dannywilliamson3340]

"We quality"??

[@Jim54_]

Our Civilisation’s rejection of Nuclear power was a massive mistake, and the environment has payed dearly for it as we continue to rely on fossil fuels for our electricity

[@tadeuszdabkowski5599]

I'm

[@slygg]

Very true. On the other hand if we use this design the environment will pay much more dearly.

[@Jim54_]

@@slygg based on what?

[@garyeast7259]

@@slygg nuclear waste is tiny i mean really tiny in comparison to fossil fuel you judt need to bury it. The core of the earth runs on radioactive decay anyway. The carbon in the air an chemicals in ground water from fossil fuel is whats killing us

[@slygg]

@@garyeast7259 Yeah I wasn't talking about the waste the waste is no problem, just about design flaws of the reactor shown here. For example this design has woefully inadequate shielding and a positive void coefficient. Sound like some other power plant I know from the Sovjet union.

[@georgenorton8529]

Good piece of film. My father worked many an outage at VY...and even worked the decommission of Yankee Rowe in the early 90s.

[@tonyleshinskie5234]

The plant depicted here is the original Yankee nuclear power plant, i.e. the Yankee Rowe plant in western Massachusetts. Vermont Yankee is located nearby, but in Vermont. Yankee Rowe has fully decommissioned, except for a spent nuclear fuel storage facility on the former reactor site. Vermont Yankee permanently shutdown on December 29, 2014 and is just beginning its decommissioning process. Regardless, this is a good film.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

+Tony Leshinskie Thanks for clarifying this. Can you provide more information about Yankee Rowe?

[@PeriscopeFilm]

+Tony Leshinskie Thanks we have changed the description now...

[@johnkern7075]

Thank You for these films!

[@vote4carp]

I love the opening scene of atoms 'popping', clearly to audio of a geiger counter speaker with an increasing reading. That was slick.

[@maconp1119]

Still by far the safest and cleanest form of power. It was almost recertified for another 40 year run. It was just too small. It was the first Yankee, built for experimental use.

[@djm51x]

brother

[@GroovyVideo2]

you can say that but not even close to being true

[@snickle1980]

​@@GroovyVideo2 😐Well the ones that don't explode are VERY safe, wouldn't you agree? It's the ones that explode that have me concerned. Those are the ones that will get ya...Let's not build any more of those.

[@daszieher]

@@snickle1980 which ones exploded and why? Maybe we should build nuclear powerplants that can't explode instead.

[@snickle1980]

@@daszieher Well, there were a few small accidents early on in the 50s and 60s when we were still in the tutorial mode. 😁 the Idaho explosion in 61' was interesting. Human error. Pulled the control rod out just a tad too far. All 3 were buried in lead coffins. But plants that can't explode? That's a fine idea. (Bubba DID have a fine idea) 😐Man, I tell you what, I got it all figured out, too. So many pounds of shrimp to pay off the boat, so many pounds for gas, we can just live right on the boat. We ain't got to pay no rent. I'll be the captain; we can just work it together. Split everything right down the middle. Man, I'm tellin' you, fifty-fifty. And, hey, Forrest, all the shrimp you can get. 😁Anyway, it's the best deal we have going until fusion comes along. But let's put it in _your back yard_ and not mine, eh?

[@SirTophammHatt-zs7jj]

This is a very informative Video!

[@Ryan-lk4pu]

Fantastic film

[@NellsStuff]

I never had the chance to see the plant, but after seeing this video and photos of the decommissioning, I can't believe that the area roads would handle the equipment and traffic required both during construction and demolition! The BEST part of this film is actually seeing the Hoosac Tunnel & Wilmington RR in action!

[@stephenbritton9297]

Just glad we didn't see any of the Hoosac tunnel GHOSTS in the filming!

[@Andyheritageable]

We had to rebuild the dam road and some culverts but we did it!

[@donbrashsux]

I love Rowe...

[@MerleOberon]

They built it in 2 years, now it seems it takes 20 years.

[@leerman22]

Approvals, followed by approvals, followed by approvals, followed by approvals, followed by approvals, followed by approvals, followed by a dozen coal and gas plants.

[@mahdialhusein2914]

Don’t forget the auxiliary systems and new designs for our generation

[@ArthurDentZaphodBeeb]

Nobody would ever build such a slap-dash plant like that again. Containment building was a joke.

[@suspicionofdeceit]

@@ArthurDentZaphodBeeb What was the primary flaw in the containment structure?

[@scratchdog2216]

More bombs than power plants speaks volumes about man's maturity level.

[@ADRIAAN1007]

Those small models of the reactor sphere are beautiful.

[@terri-lynnnummikoski9895]

I wanted to have an 2022 occasional Father's Day gift for you this year.

[@mostinterestingmeme9127]

I would have to double-check this, but I remember a guy on TED Talks discussing how Thorium could be used as an alternative fuel, and a less expensive one because it could be produced almost limitlessly since it is one of the most common elements in the world. If we could somehow ensure that the radioactivity problem of the spent fuel could be dealt with or the period of radioactivity shortened, then that would solve the waste problem. As for safety concerns, all we need are more reliable and powerful emergency equipment and procedures to keep nuclear plants from melting down or exploding. If these things could be done, then perhaps nuclear energy is the future. Either that or we figure out how to create hydrogen fuel from water and use that instead.

[@donbrashsux]

im going to visit this famous site next year..i hope the waste has been removed by then..

[@Poorschedriver]

Still there, doubt it's going anywhere anytime soon.

[@EditGuy6610]

Uh, no. The spent rods are still there, and heavily guarded. You can view the site from across the river, but you can't get anywhere near it.

[@donbrashsux]

@@galactic_socialist now that’s a very gd explanation your so correct How sad is that for the Rowe town and district .. would the waste be secure where it’s stored .. does anyone have to watch it ..

[@gregorymalchuk272]

@@galactic_socialist That's because badly misinformed people prevent waste reprocessing that would reduce the waste volume 100X and make long term deep geological storage feasible.

[@andybaldman]

David Lee Roth did a great song about this!

[@donbrashsux]

Are you serious about DLR

[@andybaldman]

@@donbrashsux David Lee Roth Yankee Rose, check it out.

[@Zyzyx442]

This is my religion! Hail Progress! Hail the electric atomic company!

[@Woody2Shoe]

There is a handful of " Yankee" nuclear plants around here in Massachusetts. I've been to at least 3. This one, Vermont Yankee, and Maine and New York Yankee nuclear plants.

[@genekelly8467]

I read that the de-commissioning cost about 20X what the cost to build was.

[@djsi38t]

Maine Yankee power.fell under heavy scrutiny because of fear of an accident.Started making power in 1972 ended in 1996.The spent fuel rods are still there in 2022 and the government is still trying to decide what to do with them.

[@donbrashsux]

i Loved this film

[@rickarmknecht8903]

The written description says: "185-megawatt electric" but the film's narrator says that it was 136-megawatt electric. Was the power upgraded on a subsequent core (or otherwise upgraded)?

[@Andyheritageable]

yes, it started as 135 and then upgraded over the years

[@Andyheritageable]

Started at 136 Mwe but due to the very robust design, it was able to be upgraded to 185 Mwe

[@MitzvosGolem1]

I grew up next to Shoreham plant Long Island ,NY. Mafia corruption ruined plant never opened. Billions wasted ...sad.

[@richardnailhistorical3445]

I thought the Mafia controlled all the nuclear plants???

[@MitzvosGolem1]

@@richardnailhistorical3445 During Construction ,inspection many went to prison including the chief engineer for Comstock electric contractor. When plant was getting final NRC test the main diesel emergency cooling pumps exploded during 24hr 125% load test. It was discovered that the engine was a rebuilt ww2 diesel submarine engine not a new one as specified. Paperwork was forged . After that the plant was never allowed to open . I lived next door and glad. And I am pro Nuke. France and Finland have many many nuke plants but dont have such issues. I would force all engineering inspector s to live next to plant with their families for 10years to be hired certified etc.

[@MitzvosGolem1]

@@richardnailhistorical3445 They had three plants planned for North shore of long island. Crazy

[@richardnailhistorical3445]

@@MitzvosGolem1 Interesting, well what are we going to do with the Mafia if we impose such strict rules? After all, the Mafia has become 'endeared' to the American public as an institution, many of our young want to be like them (John Gotti in Brooklyn or Kray Twins in London). Don't we have to take care not to eliminate the way they make a living? PS: I worked at Indian Point for over 20 years and mafia pretty much ran that plant through the union, stole millions in equipment every year and is most likely reason Entergy closed it down. Entergy, from deep South, was shocked when they bought plant and seen that they could not control the corruption; doesn't happen in South like does in North!

[@MitzvosGolem1]

@@richardnailhistorical3445 yes... Sadly.. France and Finland have strong nuclear power grid. They seem to be less prone to corruption? I worked at Fermilab facility DOE feds nuke research. I Miss that job.

[@kelliestratton6991]

Old slogan (up and atom with nuclear power )

[@lomgshorts3]

Andrew, The Molten Salt Thorium reactor would have been a better choice. Thorium is 50 times more available, and the low pressure it operates on makes it so very much safer. The technology was available before your plant was built, and it could have been built in modules to add on as capacity demand increased. The greed of fast breeder plants for nuclear weapons could have been supplied elsewhere. And, your plant would still be operating long after the fast breeder plant you built was "decomissioned" without having to store nuclear waste because the TMSR "burns" its waste to practically nothing in operation. Be as proud as you want about your enriched uranium plant, but a Thorium MSR plant would have been cheaper and quicker to build and maintenance would have been much easier, AND much safer.

[@massboyz2255]

This is crazy concidering I live in rowe

[@Poorschedriver]

You're lucky, 8A and Rt2 are my favorite driving roads. Not to mention that it's so beautiful out there.

[@massboyz2255]

Audi_ophile yea super fun roads on the bike

[@jwestney2859]

4:05 Here the film describes the blunder. They based the whole nuclear industry on a nuclear submarine. Hyman Rickover made this happen. It was a bad decision that sent the whole industry in a bad direction. Nuclear submarines are very safe. They have a remarkable safety record more than 60 years! But a huge generator should have been based on a walk-away-safe design like the molten salt reactors developed at Oak Ridge National Labs under Alvin Weinberg. We could have had a carbon-free economy fifty years ago! The irony is that Weinberg taught the young Rickover the principles of nuclear fission. Later Rickover overpowered Weinberg to arrive at this very bad decision.

[@kbarrett63]

How many of the executive alumni of public utilitiles were 'raised' by ADM Rickover ??

[@tandemcompound2]

Blinky the fish likes this.

[@fuckyomamafuckyosisterfuck6136]

The woke have put us back 100 years .

[@jacksons1010]

Oddly enough, it’s “woke” people fighting to revive nuclear power in the USA. “Woke” countries like France and Ukraine get the majority of their power from nuclear. In the US so-called “conservatives” continue to fight for more power from coal. Could be you’re wrong about this one.

[@fuckyomamafuckyosisterfuck6136]

@Jon Jackson all I hear from you, is butt cheeks flapping in the wind. Why don't you Back up your wild ass assertions are there any studies? Or Polls? anything? That support your dumb ass claims? 🤣

[@booklover6753]

Your brain isn't woke Samson. "Woke" is a derogatory term for being alert to racism. It has NOTHING to do with the dangers of nuclear power.

[@fuckyomamafuckyosisterfuck6136]

@Book Lover its MUCH more then that. The fact that people like you don't realize that, and brush them under the carpet as " anti racists " will be our nation's down fall. Do t be fooled.. their virtue signaling doesn't stop at " being anti racists" it's rooted DEEP in all hippy culture, " saving the environment " being one of their top priorities. Shutting down the key stone pipe line was just the tip of the iceberg. They will have you pedaling a bike to work, and eating veggie burgers before you know it.

[@TrapperAaron]

2022 nah we are just gunna burn more coal. That'll solve all our problems. Wtf happened to us.

[@charles1964]

The Pussies took over when Real Men like these d1ed...That's what happened to us...

[@user-ou9ft9th3h]

Why did they put everything in a sphere though?

[@joshuapk9808]

I like how the people who are actually manufacturing the fuel (and putting the active fuel in the reactor) are wearing exactly ZERO protective equipment... they're even handling fuel with their bare hands!

[@davor1pz]

Because it is not dangerous until you start the chain reaction for the first time.

[@epicguy228]

It's possible this film was created before OSHA was a thing

[@Andyheritageable]

@@epicguy228 No, it is done the same way today - some more automation. - Davor is correct

[@codebmw]

can we not create micro reactors like micro chips

[@38vocan]

Unfortunately there is a minimum physical size necessary for fission powerplants, it's because of the physics of neutron, and shielding concerns as well. The smallest plant one can imagine would be at least a few foot in diameter.

[@paskapaavo]

Narrator is so excited about atomic energy. That was time when nuclear power was thought as futuristic endless and cheap source of electricity. But accidents and environmental issues came later.

[@epicguy228]

The accidents are an issue, but nuclear energy is far cleaner than most, if not all other forms of electricity.

[@R.D.S.Productions]

The cotton gloves/no gloves, and no masks/breathing protection gave me cancer lol jeezeeee

[@zaitonyahya4768]

My bersih sdn bhd pw4

[@codebmw]

send them to space through elon musk

[@PAYPALMEAARONLYSTILA]

someone please help me get out of western mass the place is a superfund

[@geezzzwdf]

Mr kadak That is a deluted cop out

[@daleneparole1502]

Do you know anyone that will get CANCER....

[@allandavis8201]

Isn’t it amazing how the public relations department can put such a spin on something that is inherently a disaster waiting to happen to make it seem like a part of American folklore, the pioneering spirit of the early settlers, gouging out the earth to create something new and necessary for the survival of the people brave enough to dare take a risk. 26 tons of uranium would make a pretty big mess of what looks like it was/is a beautiful piece of wilderness, I wonder how contaminated the area is today?, it must be impossible to prevent contamination during decommissioning and operation.

[@demoniack81]

Isn't it amazing how the public relations department of fossil fuel companies has managed to convince you that the only power source whose waste is safely contained is the one you should worry about, instead of worrying about the literal millions of tons of carcinogens that they pump into the air you breathe? Truly an incredible feat.

[@daszieher]

@@demoniack81 I have come to believe that many anti-nuke activist groups must be funded by coal mining outfits. They even prevent the transport of spent fuel or other components at decommissioning. This only drives up the cost of decommissioning, nothing else.

[@Andyheritageable]

So sad that this person is so mis-informed.

[@booklover6753]

Safe containment of radioactive waste is only temporary. It takes over 200,000 thousand years for some of the byproducts to lose half of their radioactivity. Atomic energy production was a pandora's box we shouldn't have opened. The waste byproducts are eventually going to be buried somewhere and people in government are trying to come up with ways to mark these places so that future generations will understand the danger that lurks there. Thousands of years from now, if we aren't extinct, people may not speak or understand our current language. This is especially possible if there is, at some point, a post apocalyptic world in which most historical records have been destroyed.

[@pete3790249]

It sounds like u green peace freak. U live on smoke and water.

[@donbrashsux]

and further other structures we will touch on later....oh yeah..like spent nuclear waste slab up the back..where the waste is still left there to this day..!!!!..gotta love this Yankee Rowe

[@djm51x]

yes I do

[@gregorymalchuk272]

Thank the idiots who oppose waste reprocessing and the deep geological waste repository, don't blame the nuclear power. This is a bureaucratic and political problem, not a technical one.

[@daszieher]

@@gregorymalchuk272 right? It is insane that far more dangerous materials, dangerous because of their (perpetual) toxicity may be stored underground while comparatively harmless materials that will eventually become inert, face issues being stored or reprocessed.

[@montysmith6355]

Babcock and Wilcox the people that brought you the three mile island accident....remember that.

[@RickTheGeek]

Well, it was the people that were operating TMI that created the accident. If they had kept hands off, the plant would have saved itself, but the operators (due to not seeing all the information) did the wrong things and caused the fuel to melt down. The manufacturer of the reactor we’re inn fact trying to get through to the control room but since there was only limited phone access, all they got was busy signals. The problems and lessons learned from this accident caused changes throughout the nuclear power industry - and sadly; was one of the reasons the growth of nuclear power has stopped in the USA - it’s time to start building new plants with modern technology!

[@MazonDel]

An accident that from an engineering and radiological perspective was largely a non-event when compared with serious incidents like Chernobyl, which happened in the absence of the majority of safety measures utilized even then in the US. Chernobyl will take another hundred years to clean up. Three Mile Island's cleanup of the incident was completed in ~1993.

[@donbrashsux]

@@MazonDel what about SL1 in Idaho

[@gregorymalchuk272]

@@donbrashsux What about it? Some idiot kid pulled the single control rod all the way out and blew the thing up.

[@epicguy228]

@@gregorymalchuk272 Relatable.

[@alonsosevilla2301]

The macho sparrow inevitably move because boot identically invent plus a secretive ferryboat. gifted, debonair report

[@TimPerfetto]

This is an annoyance

[@mikes7639]

Just ask about Chernobyl