I recently wrote an article about the 35th anniversary of the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant for the Seacoast Scene, and I talked to so many employees that I gathered more information than I could even fit in a short 700-word article.
Thanks to Lindsay Robertson, Senior Communication Strategist at NextEra Energy, I was able to interview the plant’s chemist, Emilee Lewis, and it was fascinating because Emilee did such a great job explaining how a nuclear power plant works.
I know nothing about the subject of nuclear science, as you can see by my questions throughout the interview, but she explained it well and answered everything in such an easy-to-understand way.
I thought anyone who might be interested in atomic science or how nuclear power plants work would also find this interesting, so I’m posting it here for that purpose.
The following is my interview with Emilee Lewis:
Date of Interview: 08/11/2025
Name of Interviewee: Emilee Lewis, Chemist (with Lindsay Robertson, Senior Communication Strategist at NextEra Energy, sitting in)
Name of Interviewer: Rebecca Beatrice Brooks
Location: General Office Building, NextEra Energy Seabrook Station, Seabrook, NH
RB: So how long have you worked here?
EL: I’ve worked here for a little bit over a year and a half, or almost a year and a half.
RB: There’s so many questions that I want to ask, but I don’t know enough about nuclear science to even ask it. So, nuclear science involves chemistry?
EL: Yes, nuclear energy, really, but I guess you could say nuclear science in general. So, essentially the way it works is you have a nuclear reactor, right, and it gets hot. The way we cool it is with water. That water has to be a certain chemistry to maintain the plant healthy, and that’s what we do. We take samples and analyze them, and report the findings, and then go on accordingly.
RB: Oh, okay, that makes sense.
EL: Yes, ma’am.
RB: I thought I was going to be very confused when I asked that question.
EL: Oh, no, yeah, it’s pretty simple. We just want to prevent anything that would happen, and that’s what we do.
LR: Because our piping systems are metal, and if we don’t have the right plant chemistry, it impacts our systems…
EL: Essentially, chemistry is the barrier. It’s what protects us and the people around us, as well as what comes out of the plant. We maintain very strict regulations, so we monitor that and maintain what we release to make sure it’s not harmful.
RB: Yeah, I was reading that they cool the reactor using ocean water.
EL: No. No, ma’am. We actually cool, I’ll just give you a quick explanation. It’s pretty simple. You have the reactor, which heats up reactive coolant. That reactive coolant heats up the secondary water, and then that water gets cooled down by ocean water. Essentially, if you have, let’s say, two sides of a box, you have the reactive coolant on one side, and then you have the secondary coolant on the other side, which is non-radioactive. That hot water will make the other water boil, create steam, that steam will spin the turbine, and then once it is exhausted, or it doesn’t have the same amount of energy, we use the ocean water to cool the steam, and it goes in a circle and repeats itself over and over again.
RB: That’s so interesting, thank you for explaining that to me, because I did not understand. So that doesn’t cause issues, so the water that gets pumped back out is warmed, right?
EL: Yes, slightly.
RB: But because it’s like a mile offshore, it doesn’t really affect anything?
EL: Correct.
LR: And we also, we have very, very strict limits on the temperature of the water that we pump back into the ocean.
RB: Really? Does the plant still, when I was a kid, the plant would release steam, and the sirens would wail, does it still do that, and why did it do that?
LR: So I think you might be thinking of a couple different things. So right now we do have emergency alert system sirens. I think sounding that you might have heard might have been testing. If the towns test them weekly or quarterly, the plant does release steam. We do that as part of our shutdown. It’s normal, it’s clean, non-radioactive steam. So anytime we shut the plant down, we are releasing the steam.
RB: Oh, so it doesn’t do it all the time?
LR: No. Some people may, oh well also, if we do some equipment testing, we also may have to release some steam to test that equipment. Sometimes people may see steam from the cooling towers, wouldn’t they? [Looks at Emilee Lewis]
EL: Well, I would say the biggest thing, we have pumps that are steam-driven, right? I heard that for the first time when I joined the Navy, but it’s a steam-driven pump, and you know how I told you how the steam from the turbine gets cooled by seawater? With these pumps, there is no condensing action. So essentially, you run the pump with steam and then it goes out. But this is steam, this is secondary side water. It’s just secondary coolant, it’s non-radioactive, it’s just steam that’s running the pump and then going.
RB: Okay.
LR: Because there may be a small amount from the pump.
EL: Right.
LR: Just because of the steam that’s being released. Yeah, because of the operation of the pump. Okay. Thanks, Emilee.
EL: Yeah, of course.
LR: So Emily is a Navy veteran. You were on an aircraft carrier?
EL: Yes, I was on an aircraft carrier. Essentially, in the Navy, I did the same thing that I do here. I don’t know if you know this, but all of our aircraft carriers, as well as our submarines, are powered by nuclear reactors. And so on every single one of those, you have a plant and a group of people operating it. So I would maintain the chemistry and the reactive coolant on the aircraft carrier, as well as the chemistry on the secondary side. But it’s essentially the same thing. When the reactor gets hot, it makes the coolant hot. That coolant makes the steam. And then it turns to turbine, and you go in a circle.
RB: So, where are you from?
EL: I’m originally from Alabama. So when I graduated high school, I wanted to join the Navy, simply because it was the only branch of service that did not come to my school career fair. And when I went to talk to them, that’s when I discovered their nuclear power program. When I graduated high school, I went into that program, and I studied in school. I worked on a submarine, and then I also worked on an aircraft carrier. And then once I got out, I essentially applied for multiple different jobs around the country. And I just determined Seabrook to be the best option out of all of them.
RB: So you wanted to work in the military, but your goal wasn’t immediately to work in nuclear science?
EL: It just sort of, like… I kind of was just curious. It more so piqued my curiosity. I didn’t necessarily know what I wanted to do. In fact, I didn’t even know anything about nuclear until I joined the Navy. And that’s where I got all of my training and learned most of what I know today.
RB: Interesting.
EL: Which actually brings up a good point. So I am a co-lead for a group here. It’s called the North American Young Generation in Nuclear. It’s actually an intercontinental group. So it goes from Canada all the way down to Mexico. And essentially what it is is young people working in nuclear. And our goal is to spread the message of how amazing nuclear power is, to do public outreach, and just to educate the next generation on all the possibilities. There are so many different careers you could have in nuclear. But first, people need to know what it is and the positive quality.
RB: So how do you feel about working in the plant?
EL: Working in the plant? I love working in the plant. Ever since I learned about nuclear power, I have loved it. So I don’t know if you have driven over there, but essentially we have a building that houses the reactor. Now when you walk into the security place, you can kind of see it peeking over. And no matter what kind of mood I’m in, if I’m having a bad day, if I’m having a good day, when I see it, I smile.
RB: Really?
EL: I love it so much. I think nuclear is amazing as a concept, but also as a green energy source. It’s amazing. And it truly is the future. We just came back from a conference in Denver with the group I told you about. And the directions we’re going with nuclear power is inspirational. We have different AI techniques that we’re using. The new reactors that are being built, it’s amazing stuff. It’s going to change the world.
RB: Wow. Are there a lot of young people that you know who are in nuclear science or in STEM?
EL: So I would say yes, but that’s kind of a biased answer due to a lot of the young people I know being people I met in the military. So I know a bunch of those. We actually have a lot of young people here. It’s almost like there’s young people and then old people. I don’t know if that makes sense, but it’s almost like you’re either younger and starting out your career learning new things, or you are seasoned and have been here a while.
RB: Yeah.
EL: So there are a lot of young people that I have met and that I work with on a daily basis. And it’s interesting because almost everyone that I’ve talked to, they just care so much. They care genuinely about the job and doing what’s best for the planet, doing the right thing, doing their best. And so that part is pretty inspiring too. And I’d say that’s like the general vibe I’ve gotten in my almost six years of working in this job, this type of job, is that people care. And even the silliest things, it’s big because people just care about even the details.
RB: How does your family feel about you working as a plant?
EL: My family, they’re very proud of me. They are proud of the things I accomplish. They’re proud of the work that I do. I talk about it all the time because it’s such a big passion of mine, as well as just if we take away the nuclear part, just the power generation part. My dad is an electrician, and he works at different power plants and does stuff like that. So to kind of have something that I can connect with him, it’s been really nice to have that.
RB: And what would you like the public to know about nuclear power if they’re on the fence about it or if they’re indifferent towards it?
EL: I would say that there’s actually something that I’ve come to appreciate as a consumer, as a civilian, that when they’re sleeping in their bed at night, there are people who are dedicated, hardworking, and detail-oriented that are striving to not only produce power, but produce safe and clean energy for them 24-7. There are people out there who care about their job and care about what we do. You might not realize it, but the air conditioning is pretty nice in the summertime, and that heat is pretty nice in the wintertime. And there are people who drive through the snow, who drive through the storms, and do their best on a daily basis to ensure not only the safety of themselves and their peers, but also the public. So, yeah, I guess I think that getting to know the people that work at the plant and getting to know how much they care, and also just educating yourself in general, I genuinely think that could change anyone’s mind about nuclear power.
RB: That is so cool. I guess that’s everything.
EL: Awesome.
RB: Yeah, thank you so much. This was so awesome.
EL: It was very nice to meet you.
RB: Yeah, it was nice to meet you, too.
LR: Thanks, Emily. Have a good afternoon.
EL: Stay cool. Have a good afternoon.