First Day At Waterford

Luling, Louisiana

Weather: low 54 degrees, high 75 degrees, mostly cloudy skies, light rain late in the day

This was my first day at the Waterford Nuclear Plant, located about 20 miles west of New Orleans on the Mississippi River. With training and the security badging process being what it is, I was unable to get into the plant to start the assessment. In most jobs, a person can usually go to work almost immediately. Not so in this industry, and it's even harder since 9/11. The major holdup today was the lack of a person to show me around because everyone was busy in their current outage. I was able to get a security badge in the afternoon, but still have one class of training to attend in the morning at 0900 hours. Before the class, I'll be shown around and start looking at how things are done here.

Most of the nuclear plants I go to have people working there that I know from the past, and Waterford is no exception. I saw a few of them today, and expect to see more tomorrow.

I was finished at the plant by 1500 hours, and used the time to do a little exploring in Kenner and Metairie. The New Orleans airport is located in Kenner, which meant the traffic was heavy. No one seemed to be impatient or in a hurry, so it wasn't too bad. By the time I headed back to Luling, it was getting dark and light rain showers were falling. This area is farther east than Bay City, which means it gets dark sooner. By 1700 hours, with the clouds and lower sun, it was dark enough for the headlights to be turned on. Somehow, I managed to get off I-310 at the wrong exit, but was still able to find my way back to the hotel. After a call to Carolyn made me homesick for her, I watched a little television and read the newspaper. Such is life away from home.

More later, be safe.

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