Glenbrooke News

by George Beitzel

(In light of the recent events, this piece (originally posted in October 20, 2010)  has experienced a surge in interest,  so we decided to re-post it- ed).

People new to the area often wonder what the two huge twin towers located about 20 miles south east of Glenbrooke are, why they are there and what do they do. No, they are not flying saucer launchers.   Here is their sad story.

In 1966 SMUD ( Sacramento Municipal Utility District ) purchased 2100 acres in southern Sacramento County for a Nuclear Generating Station. It took almost a decade to build the plant. The generating station was named Rancho Seco after the old  Mexican Rancho Arroyo Seco land grant located in the area . The plant was started in September, 1974 and became commercially active in April 1975.

The plant used a Babcock and Wilcox pressurized water reactor.  This design was plagued with operational problems ( including a " SCRAM " which is an emergency reactor shut down), safety concerns and cost overruns. Its lifetime capacity average was only 39 %. The plant lost community support and after a negative public vote in June 1989 the SMUD Board ordered the generating station closed despite the fact its operating license ran another 20 years.

The decommissioning process began. Because the federal government has never approved a national nuclear waste storage site,  the spent fuel rods ( about the size of pencils ) are safely containerized in concrete barrels and stored at Rancho Seco. There is no radioactive danger to visitors.  Many of  the buildings have been removed but the two large concrete cooling towers and some buildings remain remain.

My layman's nuclear generator primer. Controlled nuclear fission produces heat which boils water and makes steam. The steam turns the electrical generators to make electricity. The excess hot water is pumped to the top of the huge cooling towers and sprayed out .While water drops to the ground, heat rises and flows upward.  This cools the hot water before it is returned to the creeks and lakes. When the plant was running you could see the hot steam rising from the towers.

photo by SMUD

Most of the grounds and the 160 acre lake have been converted into a public park operated by SMUD. I took our Boy Scout troop there several times for overnight camps outs and fishing. There is an adjacent Nature Trail on the Howard Ranch operated by the Nature Conservancy and SMUD. ( I worked on a project for the Howard family. They are the same family who owned Seabiscuit. The horse was not on this property but kept on a ranch in northern California.) There is also a small museum showing the history of the generator.  Its an interesting trip to drive down to  the Rancho Seco park and site.