Ever been inside Nucor? See inside, via Seattle Times photos

Efficient, agile, smart, Seattle’s steel mill keeps the fires burning. (@MikeSiegel7) Pics: http://t.co/6L93UK4MfG pic.twitter.com/gCV7b1zNVC

— Seattle Times Photo (@SeaTimesPhoto) May 27, 2014

Thanks to Amy for the tip about a rare photographic look inside West Seattle’s Nucor Steel plant – we say “rare” because they’ve had a “no photo” policy in the past, but either they’ve made an exception or it’s changed, because the photo gallery published on SeattleTimes.com this week is definitely a closeup look inside. The photo in the tweet above is just one of the images; go here to see the others. They were published with a feature story about the steel mill that appeared in the Times’ Sunday magazine Pacific Northwest (here’s the online version).

Petert May 28, 2014 (2:42 pm)

This was an enlightening, educational, and thoroughly enjoyable article from the ST. Although I’ve had exposure to what goes on inside of recycling steel plants, I didn’t know to what extent Nucor goes through to maintain self-containment and reuse of resources. It gave me a much greater understanding and appreciation of our ‘neighbor’ at the bottom of the hill. Well done !

JayDee May 28, 2014 (5:41 pm)

When I went on a tour they seemed more concerned about pictures of the melt and the control room, even though no other pictures were allowed. They did give us a free book with pictures they’d vetted. Thoroughly worth the $50 donation to charity for the tour.

heather May 28, 2014 (10:25 pm)

Interesting story. I appreciate the attention from WSB, I would have missed the story otherwise.

Mark May 29, 2014 (9:34 am)

I work at Nucor. It’s of the best places I’ve worked, second only to the South Pole and that was because of the location.

Nucor is one of the few places out there these days that consider their employees an asset rather than an expense.

As to the “no photo” rule; most industrial and manufacturing facilities have this rule to protect their process and for liability, not to mention to protect their employees. I’ve worked in many manufacturing facilities and mills (I was a general foreman for a local contractor)and photos were strictly forbidden, unless previously permission was granted. If you’re interested in a video, this is one that is on Youtube of our facility. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hnXMI_LK7k&safe=active

WSB May 29, 2014 (9:59 am)

Thanks, Mark. On private property, a private company/facility certainly has that right. But I mentioned it because our publication has asked in the past and been told no – we would have liked to have been allowed to show WSB readers what happens inside the plant. Not a big deal and we haven’t asked recently, but in case anyone wondered why WSB has never had this kind of photo gallery/story, I mentioned it as an aside. – TR

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