[TheRealVille]

I'll tell you what I realize. All any plant consists of, is a collection of pipes, valves, heaters, boilers, various types and kinds of machinery, and so on and so forth. None of them are non-replaceable. As a matter of fact, the items that make up the 'plant', are replaced almost daily throughout the life of the plant in a process known as maintenance. You do realize every plant has a maintenance department, right? The bigger work is usually accomplished during something called a shutdown. Been on a few of those myself. :biggrin: A plant therefore can continue to exist on into perpetuity. Even the concrete footings, pump bases and foundations are torn out and replaced as their serviceability begins to deteriorate. Same thing for the control rooms and the buildings, pipe racks, roads, etc.

Therefore to upgrade any facility into the 21st century all that is needed is equipment like scrubbers to clean up the emmissions. Of course, it would have been nice if the Obozo adminstration, would have decided to pour 90 billion dolars worth of aid into power stations, helping out our national interests, upgrading our infrastrucure and thereby saving the middle class a ton by keeping down the cost of electricity. But no, instead he put that much into Solyndra and other equally dubious rat holes and, as a result, the "costs of electricity necessarily skyrocketed". What a nincomPOTUS!

Bingo. Try replacing that monster in a unit. :biggrin: Powerplant units do, in fact, wear out, and outlive their usefulness.