This week I did something very interesting. I did something that we at Ringhals call ”skiftlagspraktik” which means a shorter training period in the control room at one of the nuclear reactors. It was very nice to see how it works in reality and see many of the different objects and processes that I read about in my daily work. I was at Ringhals unit 3 which is a reactor of a model called pressurized water reactor. In the control room you control and regulate the processes in the plant. I tried many different duties for example daily controls, both in the control room and in the actual plant, and periodic tests of different systems. This is done to make sure that everything works as planned and that different safety systems are functionable if they are needed. All controls and tests worked out as planned and were under control. I worked with a nice and friendly team and their running of the power plant felt very safe. One of the most exciting experiences was that I, under supervision and instructions from an experienced reactor operator, was allowed to participate in a routinely regulation of the boric acid concentration. Boric acid absorbs the neutrons that are used in the fission process. By regulating the concentration you can control the number of fissions of uranium that occur. If you decrease the boric acid concentration you will receive more fissions of uranium. This means that more heat is released and that the reactor temperature is increased. By doing this I have actually run and regulated a nuclear reactor. It might sound a little bit geeky but how many people have actually been able to do that?