The young people had a great time attending Heysham power station. Upon arrival they were greeted by Fran and Bryan who took everyone into the visitor centre and began a presentation. The pupils learnt about Heysham 1 and Heysham 2 power stations, the years they were built and the amount of energy they produce daily. They discussed different ways the plants are fuelled and how they create the electric needed to power the area and all the homes across a wide capacity, explaining that they even power homes past Manchester. They looked at a range of jobs available at the stations from engineers, cleaners to security guards.
They then met the CNC police and were able to explore their weapons and shields and learnt how the CNC police are responsible for the safety of the power plant to ensure the public and the plants safety. They discussed what their job entailed and what uniform they had to wear.
The CNC police led a quiz on what had been discussed regarding renewable and non- renewable energies and then did a safety briefing before kitting all the staff and young people up to begin the tour.
On the tour the Young people were taken into the power plant and had to go through security to enter the secure areas. The young people had a tour in the power plant and were taught about how the reactors work, and about the high, medium and low outputs of the turbines. They went into the turbine rooms which was huge, and had to wear their safety equipment for this. It was very hard to hear in there due to the amount of noise the turbines generators were producing. They met various people on the way and was able to experience the different work environments.
The young people learnt how the sea is extremely valuable in helping with the energy sources and that 3 million litres of sea water pump through the station every 5 minutes.
After touring the power plant they were taken back to the visitor centre where they were able to construct their own cars and finished up by getting given free pens and water bottles.
They all had a great day out and thoroughly enjoyed everything they managed to see and learn about working within a power station.
