elec power plant component mfr's are going kaput- lost expertise + knowledge 11

[davefitz]

I've been following the precipitous decline of the US and EU mfr's of electric power plant components, such as GE/Alstom/CE, BW, FW, Siemens. The loss of expertise and knowledge is astounding, and I assume that any future large central station power plants will have their components designed and fabricated in India and China. This observation is for both nuclear and fossil plants.

The trend implies a default committment has been made toward renewable technologies, and funding for research into these older technologies will also devolve in US and the EU, involving a change in university curriculum ( adios thermodynamics) . It implies that the remaining US and EU central stations will eventually rely on overseas technical support for repairing equipment and aftermarket demands,and those plants will learn to play the role that the steam locomotive played after the diesel-electric locomotive was introduced.

The funding for the technical support systems ( ASME) will also dry up, and the related industry conferences have already seen a gradual shrinking toward irrelevance.

One way to prevent complete loss of technical knowledge may be to have google archive the technical standards, research reports, and failure analyses of these mfrs and store them in some sort of library that is only searchable in some qualified manner ( TBD).

I have also noticed a growing form of "cultural amnesia" regarding the traumatic events of the 1940s-1964, where the newer generation of people are unfamiliar with , and actually deny the existence of, nuclear warheads, fallout, and related radiactive issues. Considering that it will take at least another 120 yrs to decommission the waste stockpiles and used fuel, this amnesia does not bode well.

"...when logic, and proportion, have fallen, sloppy dead..." Grace Slick

 

[1503-44]

Why not go all out. A gloucus atlanticus will absolutely amaze your Instagram followers.

 

[SnTMan]

"Blue Sea Slug", yeah I know the dude...

The problem with sloppy work is that the supply FAR EXCEEDS the demand

 

[davefitz]

It may be more likely that the past practice of congregating every day in an office is becoming outdated, and much of the office work will be done remotely ,either from home, or exported to workers overseas.The current covid 19 practices may become permanent, and office buildings may become vaccant, or opened to the homeless squaters.

"...when logic, and proportion, have fallen, sloppy dead..." Grace Slick

 

[Windward]

Roughly half of the voters in the good old US of A believe it is their patriotic duty to make the rich richer no matter what. They have been succeeding to the max since the elections of 1980.

Now many of them are posting here, complaining of their success. What did they expect? Sending all the good jobs to China made a lot of people rich beyond the dreams of avarice. It also destroyed our technical superiority.

For the human race, the inmates will always be in charge of the asylum. For instance, see “nuclear power”, “Tea Party”, “MAGA.”

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

Not wanting to start a huge bun fight..

It also destroyed our technical superiority.

You never really had it. Most of the huge tech has been on the back of imported immigrant skill sets. Now your limiting inward immigration your not pulling the brains in any more. The locals have always mostly wanted to be business managers not the grunts. Don't get me wrong there are plenty of home grown talent. Just not enough and no tradition of breeding it like Germany, Poland and Scotland do. Half of it is the way the education system is set up. Its been noticeable in Scotland after the Arts mafia got control of it that the number and quality of engineering talent has progressively reduced over the years.