Cooper Nuclear Station (CNS) Tour
On July 19, the NCESR 2023 Darrell J. Nelson Summer Undergraduate interns and sponsoring faculty visited CNS to learn more about clean, sustainable nuclear energy and how it is generated at the site.
CNS is owned and operated by Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) and is located three miles South of Brownville, Nebraska. Built in 1974, CNS currently produces 835 megawatts of electricity from its single unit, boiling water reactor.
The site visit kicked off with a presentation led by CNS System Engineering Manager Shannon Schulz that included the history of CNS, how a boiling water reactor generates nuclear power, and the value of existing nuclear power plants in addition to the growing interest in advanced nuclear options. The NCESR team was then escorted by CNS Nuclear Independent Oversight Director Gabe Gardner, CNS Emergency Preparedness Manager Matt Nee, and Schulz to the Protected Area (PA) of the plant.
Once inside of the PA, the group received an interactive presentation in the Control Room Simulator by CNS Simulator & Training Support Superintendent Andy Vaughn. Next, the group viewed the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation and the control rod and fuel bundle displays in the Training Building.
The group departed the Training Building for the remainder of the tour, which included stops in the Diesel Generator room, water Intake Structure, and Turbine Deck. The visit would not have been complete without seeing the Control Room, which was manned with Licensed Reactor Operators running the plant and monitoring the reactor core. The interns and faculty sponsors thoroughly enjoyed the tour. For the majority of the group, it was their first time touring a nuclear plant. They were enlightened to learn nuclear energy is the largest source of clean energy and the most reliable energy source in America. The CNS Team who organized and provided the tour was pleased with how much the students and faculty were engaged in the tour and appreciated their questions. NCESR is grateful for the collaboration with NPPD for this learning opportunity.
UNL Summer Research Symposium
All the hard work from the summer research was organized by each intern to prepare their poster to present at the UNL Summer Research Symposium on August 3. This was a new experience for some interns and they did an excellent job presenting their posters. The representatives from NCESR and NPPD were impressed with their research and presentations.
Internship Wrap Up
August 31 concluded the 2023 internships. Each student prepared a summary report describing their summer work experience in energy sciences research, their accomplishments and lessons learned. The faculty sponsors also included a summary of the internship experience from their perspective in the report.
The Energy Center is proud to be a part of these bright young individuals’ learning journey and wish them well in their future endeavors.