This is the control room simulator in Chattanooga that the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission uses to train its nuclear inspectors. When a warning sounds, the control rods are automatically inserted; the operators are making sure that the shutdown goes as planned. All nuclear power stations in the U.S. are different; in the future, most reactors will be be built from a design that the NRC has licensed. Nuclear remains the only clean electricity source that can be built in units of over 1,000 megaweatts; solar and wind are much smaller and lack 24x7 ability.

If the instrumentation reminds you of the 1960s, it is--except for the laptop (not seen) that now programs the switches and alarms of this whole-room simulator. But the actual control rooms also seem to feature a laptop or two. They could of course remodel the simulator and bring it up to date--but that would defeat its purpose, to train operators for the actual control rooms with 1960s instrumentation design. Soon they will all be retired, complete with their design faults (like the shutdown pumps that must keep going to prevent meltdowns). The new designs build on 50 years of operating experience.

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