Perry Nuclear Generating Station
| Perry Nuclear Power Plant | |
|---|---|
 Perry as seen from Headlands Park, Ohio | |
  Location of Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Ohio | |
| Country | United States |
| Location | North Perry, Ohio |
| Coordinates | 41°48′3″N 81°8′36″W / 41.80083°N 81.14333°WCoordinates: 41°48′3″N 81°8′36″W / 41.80083°N 81.14333°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Commission date | November 18, 1987 |
| Construction cost | $6 billion |
| Owner(s) | FirstEnergy |
| Operator(s) | FirstEnergy Nuclear |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | boiling water reactor |
| Reactor supplier | General Electric |
| Cooling source | Lake Erie |
| Cooling towers | 2 |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 1 x 1231 MW |
| Annual generation | 8,058 GWh |
The Perry Nuclear Power Plant is located on a 1,100-acre (450 ha) site on Lake Erie, 40 miles (65 km) northeast of Cleveland in North Perry, Ohio, USA. The nuclear power plant is owned by First Energy Nuclear Operating Corporation.
The reactor is a General Electric BWR-6 boiling water reactor design, with a Mark III containment design. The original core power level of 3,579 megawatts thermal was increased to 3,758 megawatts thermal in 2000, making Perry one of the largest BWRs in the United States.
History
Built at a cost of $6 billion, Perry-1 is one of the most expensive power plants ever constructed.
Perry was originally designed as a two-unit installation, but construction on Unit 2 was suspended in 1985 and formally cancelled in 1994. At the time of cancellation, all of the major buildings and structures for the second unit were completed, including the 500-foot-tall (150 m) cooling tower. It is possible that a second unit could be constructed on the site, but current economical and regulatory conditions are not conducive to doing so (in addition to back taxes that would be due to the "abandon in place" designations on many objects in Unit 2). At any rate, the second unit would have to be re-built from the ground up to accommodate the newer reactor design that would almost certainly be installed.
Eleven hundred acres at the Perry plant were designated in 1993 as an urban wildlife sanctuary by the National Institute for Urban Wildlife. The area has trees, shrubs, streams and ponds; and a habitat for heron, belted kingfisher, ducks and geese. The forested area is ideal for the crane-fly orchid, a rare species in Ohio. The site includes a wetland that contains spotted turtles, an endangered species in Ohio.[1]
On March 28, 2010, there was a fire in a lubrication system for one of the water pumps that feeds water for generation of steam. Reactor power automatically lowered to 68% due to the reduction in feed water flow, and the fire was extinguished in less than three hours. Two plant fire brigade personnel were brought to a local hospital for "heat stress" following the fire. No customers lost power during this event.[2] On February 9, 2016, the plant was unexpectedly shut down for maintenance to a recirculation pump. The reactor was brought back to full power by February 20, 2016.[3]
In addition to Perry, FirstEnergy also owns and operates the Davis-Besse and Beaver Valley nuclear plants.[4]
| Unit 1 | Unit 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Reactor Type | BWR-6 | BWR-6 |
| Reactor Manufacturer | General Electric | General Electric |
| Turbine Manufacturer | General Electric | General Electric |
| Thermal Power | 3,758 megawatts | Unit canceled in 1994 |
| Electrical Output | 1,260 megawatts | Unit canceled in 1994 |
| Transmission System Connection | 345,000 volts | Unit canceled in 1994 |
| Construction Permit Issued | May 3, 1977 | May 3, 1977 (construction suspended in 1985) |
| Initial Criticality | June 1986 | Unit canceled in 1994 |
| First Electrical Generation | November 13, 1986 | Unit canceled in 1994 |
| Operational Date | November 18, 1987 | Unit canceled in 1994 |
| Expiration of Original License | March 18, 2026 | Unit canceled in 1994 |
Ownership
The reactor is owned and operated by FirstEnergy. Four of its subsidiaries each own a share in the plant:
| Company | Percentage | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Electric Illuminating | 44.9% | |
| Ohio Edison | 30% | |
| Pennsylvania Power | 5.2% | Ohio Edison subsidiary |
| Toledo Edison | 19.9% |
Surrounding population
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.[5]
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Perry was 83,410, an increase of 8.0 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80 km) was 2,281,531, a decrease of 3.0 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Cleveland (36 miles to city center). Canadian population is not included in these figures.[6]
Seismic risk
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at Perry was 1 in 47,619, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.[7][8]
References
- ↑ "Ecological Stewardship of the Nuclear Energy Industry". Nuclear Energy Institute. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- ↑ "Event Notification Report for March 29, 2010". U.S.N.R.C. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- ↑ "Power Reactor Status Reports for 2016". Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ↑ "FirstEnergy". FirstEnergy. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- ↑ http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/emerg-plan-prep-nuc-power-bg.html
- ↑ Bill Dedman, Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors, msnbc.com, April 14, 2011 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42555888/ns/us_news-life/ Accessed May 1, 2011.
- ↑ Bill Dedman, "What are the odds? US nuke plants ranked by quake risk," msnbc.com, March 17, 2011 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42103936/ Accessed April 19, 2011.
- ↑ http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Sections/NEWS/quake%20nrc%20risk%20estimates.pdf
External links
- "Perry 1 Boiling Water Reactor". Operating Nuclear Power Reactors. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). February 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
- "Perry Nuclear Power Plant, Ohio". Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). October 3, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-21.