Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant

Infobox Nuclear power plant
name = Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant


caption = Big Rock's containment building
country = USA
location = Charlevoix, MI
coords = coord|45.35892|N|85.19712|W|display=inline
owner =
operator = Consumers Power
built = 1954 - 1962
start = March 29, 1963
end = August 29, 1997
r_supplier = General Electric
r_type = Boiling Water Reactor
r_active =
r_active_mw =
r_shutdown = 1
r_shutdown_mw = 67
r_construction =
r_construction_mw =
r_canceled =
r_canceled_mw =
r_planned =
r_planned_mw =
capacity =
generation =
for_year =
av_annual_gen =
net_gen =
status = D
generators =
architect =
cost =
constructors = Betchel Corporation
expires = May 31, 2000
nrc_region = 3
website =
as_of =

Big Rock Point was a nuclear power plant in Charlevoix, Michigan. Big Rock operated from 1962 to 1997. It was owned and operated by Consumers Power, now known as Consumers Energy. Its boiling water reactor was made by General Electric (GE) and was capable of producing 67 megawatts of electricity. Bechtel Corporation was the primary contractor.

History

Big Rock was Michigan's first nuclear power plant and the nation's fifth. It also produced Cobalt 60 for the medical industry from 1971 to 1982.

Ground was broken on July 20, 1960. Construction was completed in 29 months at a cost of $27.7million. Its license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was issued on August 29, 1962. The reactor first went critical on September 27 and the first electricity was generated on December 8, 1962.

A promotional video for the plant featured then GE spokesman Ronald Reagan.

Facts and figures

* Reactor vessel dimensions: convert|30|ft|m tall x convert|9|ft|m in diameter
* Thickness of rector vessel walls: 5 1/2 inches
* A single 10-ton load of uranium nuclear fuel in Big Rock's reactor could generate the same amount of electricity as 260,000 tons of coal.

Closure and decommissioning

Consumers Energy had previously announced that Big Rock Point's operating license would not be renewed when it expired on May 31, 2000. However, economics proved in January 1997 that it was not feasible to keep Big Rock Point running to the license's expiration date.

The reactor was scrammed for the last time on at 10:33 a.m. EST on August 29, 1997, 35 years to the day after its license has been issued. The last fuel was removed from the core on September 20. Decontamination was completed in 1999.

Because of its contributions to the nuclear and medical industries, the American Nuclear Society named Big Rock Point a Nuclear Historic Landmark.

The 235,000-pound reactor vessel was removed on August 25 2003 and shipped to Barnwell, South Carolina on October 7, 2003.

All of Big Rock Point's convert|500|acre|km2|sing=on, including the convert|130|ft|m|sing=on tall spherical containment structure, has been torn down. Other than eight spent fuel casks, there are no signs that the site was home to a nuclear power plant.

Decommissioning costs totaled $390,000,000.

Reuse of property

In July 2006, the state of Michigan announced it was considering buying the site, which features a mile of Lake Michigan shoreline, for a possible state park. [http://www.hollandsentinel.com/stories/071306/local_20060713006.shtml] .

As part of the sale of Consumer's Palisades Nuclear Plant, the new owner Entergy accepted the responsibility for a basketball court size piece of property at Big Rock containing that plant's eight casks of spent fuel. [http://www.entergy.com/news_room/newsrelease.aspx?NR_ID=853] .

References

*cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
year =
url = http://www.vqkcom.com/bigrock.html
title = Going Out in Style: Big Rock Point Retires after 35 Years
work =
publisher = VQK Communications
accessdate = 23 April
accessyear = 2006
*cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
year =
url = http://www.bngamerica.com/index.php?load=projects&page=index&op=project_fetch&project_id=1
title = BNG AMERICA :: Projects :: Commercial Work :: Big Rock Point
work =
publisher = BNG North America
accessdate = 23 April
accessyear = 2006*cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
year =
url = http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/decommissioning/power-reactor/big-rock-point.html
title = NRC: Big Rock Point
work =
publisher = Nuclear Regulatory Commission
accessdate = 23 April
accessyear = 2006
*cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
year =
url = http://www.consumersenergy.com/welcome.htm?/ocompany/index.asp?SS1ID=336
title = Big Rock Point Decommissioning
work =
publisher = Consumers Energy
accessdate = 23 April
accessyear = 2006
*cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
year =
url = http://www.consumersenergy.com/welcome.htm?./Newsroom/NewsArticle.asp?ID=115
title = Nation's Longest Operating Nuclear Plant, Consumers Energy's Big Rock Point, Permanently Ceases Operation
work =
publisher = Consumers Eneergy
accessdate = 23 April
accessyear = 2006
*cite web
last = Tompkins
first = Betsy
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2006
url = http://www.ans.org/pubs/magazines/nn/docs/2006-11-3.pdf
title = Big Rock Point: From groundbreaking to greenfield
work = Nuclear New
publisher = American Nuclear Society
accessdate = 26 July
accessyear = 2008

External links

* [http://www.consumersenergy.com/welcome.htm?/content/hiermenugrid.aspx?id=299 Big Rock Point Restoration Project] on Consumer's Energy website