Nuclear Power Site Series - Millstone Multi-Cache

This cache has been archived.

Wis Kid: I noticed that this cache has remained temporarily disabled for a period of time well in excess of the period of 'a few weeks' as contemplated by the cache guidelines published on Geocaching.com. For now, I'm temporarily archiving this to keep it from continually showing up in search lists. Just contact me at the below e-mail address when you have the cache repaired, and assuming it still meets the guidelines, we'll be happy to unarchive it.

If you haven?t done so already, please pick up any remaining cache bits as soon as possible.

I want to thank you for the time that you have taken to contribute to geocaching in the past.

Thanks for your understanding,

Wis Kid - Volunteer Reviewer
wiskid1@gmail.com

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Hidden : 7/16/2005
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:


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.

Millstone is located in southeast Connecticut near New London. It is owned and operated by Dominion. The operating reactors, 2 and 3, are pressurized water reactors. They generate 2,020 megawatts, enough electricity to supply 500,000 homes. Unit one is being decommissioned.


The only difference between the way a nuclear power plant makes energy and how a coal power plant makes energy is how water is heated to make steam. In a nuclear power plant, fission is the key. Inside the reactor core are small Uranium pellets less than an inch long. As neutrons strike the Uranium atoms, the atom splits, which is called fission. When fission takes place, the Uranium releases more neutrons, which bombard other Uranium atoms causing them to split. When this happens, a chain reaction starts. Plant operators using control rods, which absorb neutrons, control this chain reaction by lowering or raising the rods. The key in all of this is that when the atom is split, it releases a large amount of energy. This nuclear energy is what heats the water into steam.

This is a two-step multi, because there are two operating reactors at the Millstone site. The caches are located in East Lawn Park on the East River Trail. The first is a film container and the second is a small container that has a few small trading items. There is a pen in it, so you don’t need your own. Be careful when opening it. Make sure it is concealed again, so muggles cannot see it.

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