The Lives at the Plants

A little while ago, we noted a effort by a West Virginia artist to put force behind the work and lives of coal miners through photography, a very worthy project. Less directly aesthetic in nature but interesting in its own way is the I Am Vermont Yankee project, which aims to show nuclear workers in a similar light.

This is the kind of thing that really brings home the fact that nuclear energy has benefits well beyond the economic - clean, inexpensive electricity and well paid jobs among them. In so far as work is central to a person's self-image, then showing those self-images - as this site does via a series of videos - demonstrates that the nuclear industry is as vibrant a point of pride for its workers as coal mining. We can't argue with it.

A PR pitch? Sure, to an extent, maybe. But we like it better then the singing plant workers we've seen in various TV ads - we reall like its simplicity and unadorned quality. Props to Vermont Yankee.

(And you can leave messages of support. If you're a Vermonter - or even not - we bet the folks there love well wishes.)
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The Korea Times lets us all know:

Nuclear power generation is among the industries with the most promising prospects for the future, a private institute said in a recent report.

Well, private institutes say all kinds of things. Who's this now?

As global necessity rises for a stable supply of energy ― and as climate change continues to be an issue of utmost importance ― nuclear power will emerge as a leading energy source, according to the POSCO Research Institute (POSRI) said.

POSRI is a South Korean think tank with a special brief on management issues, but a look at their activities show it to cast its net over issues widely. The English site doesn't expand much on the news story - perhaps the Korean site has some more info.

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Ukrainian artist Alexey Kovynev has published a book of cartoons called The Nuclear Power Plant in Cartoons. He introduces it this way:

There are many nuclear power plants in the world. Every one has a nuclear reactor and a turbine with a generator. Personnel operate all of this equipment, and managers direct all this personnel. Without fail, there is a control room from where, as if from the heavens, everything may be seen. There is radiation which, for some reason, creates fear in many people. At each plant, workers change shifts, equipment breaks and is repaired, and emergency situations begin and end. People, without whom the plant would be a huge lifeless hulk, spend a big part of their life here and cannot imagine another life for themselves [NNN Note: See I Am Vermont Yankee]. In general, the NPP is an entire world where something is always happening. One can write many books about this world, but something will always be missed in this writing. Because not everything can be written, some things should be drawn...

You can see the drawings here, though without their text - which makes some of them tough to decipher.  Kovynev is travelling around with an exhibition, though he hasn't crossed the ocean yet. It'd certainly be nice to see them up close, especially if Kovynev provides a lecture or two.

Erica Moore is a System Engineer at Vermont Yankee and is a relatively new addition to the team. Erica started her energy career in the coal business, but soon had the opportunity to work in the nuclear power business at a facility in Florida. - From I Am Vermont Yankee.