Day 3

Today we spent the day with SCA (Supply Chain Analysts) and QC (Quality Control). ISC Technical Services has two primary buildings: one for renewable energy and one for nuclear energy. The engineers from today work with nuclear plants rather than solar and wind powered energy. SCAs are responsible for forecasting and planning material needs, coordinating material movement, and managing supplier relationships. QC professionals focus on quality planning and execution for inventory purchasing and parts management. The nuclear engineers we were with yesterday create test plans (which I mentioned in my post from yesterday) that the QC professionals use. They go step by step through these plans and use the necessary equipment to run these provided tests. Since nuclear plants have so many risks, it is very important to test all of the parts multiple times. This ensures the parts will operate efficiently in the plant. In the event that a part fails in the nuclear plant, it is called a Part 21. Part 21 is a federal regulation that reports a defect in the plant. It happened once a couple years ago at the Technical Services Lab, and they had to look through every test they performed with other parts that used the same equipment as the defect part. They had to review three years of work! This is necessary to ensure no other parts they created will fail. Some tests that QR professionals run are dimensional testing, visual inspection, material testing (ex. hardness and compression testing), electrical testing, and performance testing. Once a piece passes through QC, they also run seismic tests. A seismic test is a type of test used to determine how well a structure, system, or component can withstand earthquake-like forces. It’s especially important in the nuclear energy industry, where safety-related equipment must continue to function during and after a seismic event. NextEra Technical Services has its own seismic table that simulates these forces.

Nuclear Energy

The Three Mile Island incident was a nuclear accident that occurred on March 28, 1979, at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. It was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power history. A malfunction in the cooling system caused the reactor core to overheat, and due to equipment failures and operator errors, a partial meltdown occurred in Reactor 2. Although some radioactive gas was released, it was in small amounts and no immediate injuries or deaths were reported. The incident led to widespread fear about nuclear energy, major changes in U.S. nuclear regulations, and a halt in new reactor construction for decades. It instilled a fear of nuclear energy in many Americans and the U.S. shut down a large amount of their nuclear plants. However, nuclear power is actually very safe as long as the radiation is contained (which it is). All of the radioactive water is kept inside of the reactors, and all of the water released from the plants is completely clean. Nuclear energy is also often more useful than other renewable sources. It provides a much more consistent and large-scale supply of electricity. A single nuclear power plant can generate between 1,000 to 1,600 megawatts of continuous power, which is far more than most wind or solar farms can produce individually. Additionally, nuclear has a capacity factor of around 92%, meaning it operates at or near full power most of the time, regardless of weather or time of day. In comparison, wind and solar have capacity factors of about 35–45% and 20–30%, respectively, making them less reliable for consistent energy generation. The opportunity of nuclear energy is undeniable and I am excited to see what the future holds for these nuclear plants. As for NextEra, they are about to reopen a plant in Iowa, making it their fifth nuclear plant. It was shut down after Three Mile Island, they are working on reinstating it right now.

Day 2

Today we spent the day with CGD (Commercial Grade Dedication), specifically two nuclear engineers. CGD refers to a process where commercial-grade components are used instead of those specifically designed for nuclear safety. Since nuclear plants were created such a long time ago, most of the necessary parts are obsolete and no longer created by the original commercial companies. Instead, NextEra Energy creates these parts and tests them to ensure they are safe for operation and offer the proper functionality. While QC (Quality Control) performs these actual tests, it is these engineers that evaluate the data and write up reports. It is important to keep records for future use and collaboration. One of the nuclear engineers was more focused in electrical engineering and the other in mechanical engineering, but both of their efforts are needed for the NextEra nuclear plants. NextEra Energy has five plants located in Florida, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire. Before I talk about nuclear plants and how they operate, I first want to mention some aspects of electrical engineering.

Electrical Engineering

While there are thousands of electronics they have to work with, six primary ones we learned about today were transistors, fuses, buttons, resistors, capacitors, and relays. Transistors act like switches or amplifiers, controlling the flow of electricity in a circuit. Fuses serve as safety devices that break the circuit if too much current flows through, preventing damage to other components. Buttons are simple switches that open or close a circuit when pressed. Resistors are used to limit the amount of electric current, helping protect sensitive parts of a circuit. Capacitors store and release electrical energy and are often used to smooth out voltage changes. Lastly, relays are electrically operated switches that use a small current to control a much larger one, allowing for more complex control in electronic systems. We also learned about motors and how different materials can affect electrical motors. These are machines that convert electrical energy into mechanical energy using magnets and coils of wire. When electric current flows through the wire, it creates a magnetic field that interacts with the magnets, causing the motor’s shaft to spin. The materials used in the motor can affect how well it works: stronger magnets can increase power, while better conductive materials like copper improve efficiency. On the other hand, using poor-quality materials can lead to energy loss, overheating, or slower motor performance.

Nuclear Plants

Nuclear plants, what I found to be the most fascinating part of today, offer both risks and extreme benefits. Nuclear power plants generate electricity by using nuclear fission: splitting atoms (usually uranium) to release heat, which turns water into steam that drives turbines. Materials science plays a key role by developing strong, heat-resistant materials for fuel rods, reactor walls, and cooling systems to ensure safety and efficiency under extreme conditions. Fusion, another nuclear process, involves combining atoms (like hydrogen) to release massive amounts of energy with little waste or radiation. It holds great promise as a clean, nearly limitless energy source. However, nuclear power also has downsides: fission produces long-lasting radioactive waste and carries the risk of accidents. Fusion is still experimental and faces major scientific and engineering challenges before it can become practical (and create net positive energy), but offers a promising future for more renewable, cost effective energy.

Day 1

I am spending this week interning at the NextEra Energy Technical Services Lab in West Palm Beach. I figured I would post after each day on my blog to share what we did and, importantly, what I learned. They have arranged so that each day we will work with a different team and learn about their contributions to the larger field. Next week I am also interning with a different part of NextEra Energy and will continue to share my big takeaways. That will mainly take place and their main campus in Juno Beach, FL. Today we worked with the Innovation Team, consisting of primarily mechanical and electrical engineers. They create and help repair much of the necessary circuit boards in solar sites. If there is an issue with a part in the solar site (or other NextEra facilities), the Innovation Team determines if it will be more beneficial to repair the broken part or may a new one. In the event they make a new part, they sometimes have to reverse engineer the piece in order to make a replica. They use Autocad, Solidworks, Altium, Express PCB, and Express Schematic softwares to help design and engineer various circuit boards and necessary components. We also toured their on site solar plant that produces 5 MW of electricity, enough to power 1,000 houses. In order to create electricity from the sun, the energy needs to be converted from DC (direct current) power to AC (alternating current) power using an inverter.

AC/DC Power

This conversion and the production of inverters is the primary idea we learned about today. These devices play a critical role by converting the DC electricity produced by solar panels from sunlight into AC electricity that can power household appliances and be fed into the electrical grid. Inverters do this by using electronic switches to rapidly reverse the direction of the DC current, creating pulses that alternate in polarity. These pulses are then shaped into a smooth AC waveform using filters or techniques like pulse-width modulation. The longer the duration, the wider the cross section will be. Some inverters also adjust the voltage to match the requirements of household devices or the power grid. Without inverters, solar energy would not be usable in most everyday applications. While DC is what solar panels generate, AC is what most appliances and systems are designed to use. Inverters bridge that gap, acting as essential translators between the clean energy we harvest and the energy the world requires. Without inverters, the energy collected by solar panels would remain trapped in a form that’s incompatible with everyday use, making the AC/DC conversion process fundamental to unlocking the true potential of solar power.