Counterfeit Water Valves Show Up In Nuclear Plant

The Wall Street Journal reported in its April 11 edition that Southern Co.'s Hatch nuclear power plant in Georgia turned up a couple of fake water valves accompanied by paperwork indicating they supposedly were made by "Ladish Co. of Houston, Texas." (Actually, the victimized company was Ladish Valves .)  The valves were not safety related, however. The offender is said to be known, and one source told us the perpetrator is not necessarily a foreign company.

The article, titled "Utilities Fret as Reactor-Part Suppliers Shrink," dealt with the larger issue of reliable suppliers being hard to find as the moribund nuclear industry attempts to start up again after more than three decades without new reactors being built. Applications for 15 new nukes are currently pending before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. They may have to rely on foreign companies to supply critical components.

PVF Roundtable's Don Caffee Dies Suddenly
Don Caffee, secretary of the PVF Roundtable and president of the PVF consulting firm ValPers, passed away suddenly on April 10, 2008. Don was a veteran in the PVF industry for 48 years. His background includes 20 years in management positions with major valve and instrumentation manufacturers, including Johnson Controls, Dresser Industries, Xomox Corp. and the Condec Flow Control Group. In 1980, he founded ValPers, Inc. as a multi-service company for the flow control industry.

Curtiss-Wright Gets Big Nuclear Order
Curtiss-Wright Corp. said that it has received orders from Westinghouse Electric Co. to provide four generation II reactor coolant pumps and pump seals supporting the completion of Unit 2 of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Watts Bar nuclear power plant as well as long lead materials for drive rods for Units 1 and 2. Curtiss-Wright's Electro-Mechanical Corporation (CW-EMD) , part of its Flow Control segment, will engineer and manufacture the pumps, seals and drive rods at its Cheswick, PA facility. Unit 1 has been operating for more than 10 years. Watts Bar Unit 2 is approximately 60% complete. In August 2007, TVA's board of directors approved a five-year, $2.5 billion plan to finish the unfinished unit. The plan to complete Watts Bar Unit 2 is expected to last 54 months, with the reactor scheduled to enter commercial operation in early 2012. It would be the 105th nuclear power reactor in the United States.

Legend Valve Promotes INSTA-LOC
North Carolina-based plumbing distributor Murray Supply Co. held a counter day sponsored by Legend Valve on April 22. Paul Stack  from Stack Marketing dressed up for the event as Mr. INSTA-LOC. Here he's shown demonstrating Legend's INSTA-LOC push-fit valves and fittings to Murray Supply's Ryan Haymore. 

Can Carbon Dioxide Be Turned Into Gasoline?

It sounds like a crackpot idea, but it comes from two scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory who have concocted a scheme to recycle carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into gasoline. It may be too good to be true, but if not, it sure would solve a lot of problems, wouldn't it?

How To Catch A Liar

They give off recognizable signals beyond those physiological changes that lie detector machines supposedly detect, according to this recent article from Forbes magazine.

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PME's Hydronics Webinar Series Continues in 2008

This series of 90-minute Webinars presents the latest concepts for modern hydronic heating system design in both residential and commercial applications.  CEU/PDH Credit is available.

This year's Webinar topics include:

May 1

Active Solar Heating-New Opportunities For Hydronic Professionals

Thursday, May 1, 2008 at 1:00 pm ET

June 12 

Home Run Distribution Systems - An Outstanding Alternative to Metal Piping

Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 1:00 pm ET

Presented by:

John Siegenthaler, P.E. John is a licensed engineer with more than 28 years of experience in hydronic heating. He also is a writer, software developer and columnist for PM and PM Engineer magazines.

Register today at::http://webinar.pmengineer.com.  If you're busy that day, sign up anyway. You have 12 months to play back the scheduled broadcast any time you like.

Missed one of our 2007 MEC Webinars? No Problem! They are now available On-Demand! Visit PME's webinar archives  to view these and other Webinars.

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