This series of caches is intended to get you out to some great parks while also educating you about different aspects of nuclear power plants and creating an awareness of the importance of nuclear power. Caches for this series will be located in the Greater Green Bay Area, Greater Madison Area, as well as Park Falls and its surrounding north woods. Nuclear Power sites in America either have one, two or three nuclear reactors; as a rule, the cache for a site will have the same number of steps as the number of reactors the site has. There are 64 commercial sites in America, so I will start with a few and keep adding on until eventually I have done all the commercial sites.
I decided to do this series after getting a summer internship at Kewaunee Power Station and witnessing the importance and superiority of nuclear power over other power sources. Nuclear power is the most environmentally friendly power source, while also being the most economical and reliable source of energy. Nuclear energy is an emission-free energy source because it does not burn anything or create any harmful gasses. Actually, nuclear fuel does not burn and cannot explode. It is also the most economical energy source because of the abundant fuel that has very stable prices. This is also why nuclear energy is so reliable; there are very few outside factors that dictate whether or not power can be generated. Nuclear plants provide 20% of the electricity used in America, 2nd only to coal.
Kewaunee Power Station is located on Lake Michigan just south of Kewaunee, WI. It is owned and operated by Dominion. It has one Westinghouse pressurized water reactor with a total capacity of 568 megawatts, enough electricity for 140,000 homes.
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, security at nuclear plants was looked at very closely and now they have led the way in being some of the most secure locations in America. Nuclear plants use a common principle of setting up several barriers to remain secure from attacks. While working at Kewaunee Power Station, I have seen in-depth the security procedures and barriers. Huge buffer zones of land protect people from getting too close. Several layers of fences also exist to keep terrorists from getting close to the plant. Security badges, fingerprints, metal detectors, and machines that check for explosive material are all used to help keep the plant safe. A huge staff of security guards is always present in the plant and on site. In the case of a commercial airliner being flown into a plant, the reactor vessel is extremely well protected. Four feet of steel reinforced concrete and a six-inch layer of steel protect the vessel, which also has a thick steel casing. All research done indicates a commercial airliner traveling at high speeds could not damage the reactor vessel.
This cache is located in Kiwanis Park in what used to be my favorite place to ride my bike when I was a kid. The container is a medium sized coffee can containing a few trinkets and a logbook. Make sure it is completely re-hidden how it was, so no muggles find it.