Wednesday, June 17, 2009

June 12 - Nuclear Power Station


Boys were excited to pack up and the prospect to move away from this rain. We followed a river valley to Pocotello and onto the Snake River Valley. We crossed the Snake River at Sawtooth and were amazed at how small the river was. Traveling NW we traversed this great aquifer. We stumbled onto the NBR-1 Nuclear Breeder Reactor. The first place to harness the power of fission to produce electricity. The reactor used U235, and bred Plutonium 239 from U238. It seems a pity the USA no longer uses the Pu239 for further power generation. The visit was informative and our guide was great. The landscape has changed from farming to ranching and the sagebrush is becoming really pervasive.
The transition to the young black lavas of Craters of the Moon was sudden and spectacular. Our campsite has a great view to one of the cinder cones. No surprises – we had more rain by dinnertime. Climbing on the lava flows is forbidden and dogs are not allowed on the trails.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

How is Rocky enjoying the travels? Does he get to go to most of the excursions or does he stay in the camper? Sarah