Oconee Nuclear Station

Oconee Nuclear Station
Oconee Nuclear Station
Location of Oconee Nuclear Station
Country	United States
Location	Oconee County, near Seneca, South Carolina
Coordinates	34°47′38″N 82°53′53″W / 34.79389°N 82.89806°W / 34.79389; -82.89806Coordinates: 34°47′38″N 82°53′53″W / 34.79389°N 82.89806°W / 34.79389; -82.89806
Status	Operational
Commission date	Unit 1: July 15, 1973 Unit 2: Sept. 9, 1974 Unit 3: Dec. 16, 1974[1]
Licence expiration	Unit 1: Feb. 6, 2033 Unit 2: Oct. 6, 2033 Unit 3: July 19, 2034
Construction cost	~$500 million
Owner(s)	Duke Energy
Operator(s)	Duke Power
Architect(s)	Duke and Bechtel
Reactor information
Reactors operational	3 x 846 MW
Reactor type(s)	pressurized water reactor
Reactor supplier(s)	Babcock and Wilcox
Power generation information
Annual generation	20,565 GW·h
Net generation	>500,000
Website www.duke-energy.com/.../oconee.asp
As of 2008-11-17

The Oconee Nuclear Station is a nuclear power plant located on Lake Keowee near Seneca, South Carolina, and has an energy output capacity of over 2,500 megawatts. It is the second nuclear power plant in the United States to have its operating license extended for an additional twenty years by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) (the application for the Calvert Cliffs plant in Maryland preceded it).

This plant has three Babcock and Wilcox pressurized water reactors, and is operated by Duke Energy.

Oconee was the first of three nuclear stations built by Duke Energy. According to Duke Energy's web site, the station has generated more than 500 million megawatt-hours of electricity, and is "the first nuclear station in the United States to achieve this milestone."^[2]

In the summer of 2011 it is scheduled to become the first nuclear plant in the United States to have its sensors controlled digitally.^[3]

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.^[4]

The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Oconee was 66,307, an increase of 11.5 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 1,404,690, an increase of 14.8 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Greenville (30 miles to city center).^[5]

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 Oconee was 1 in 23,256, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.^[6][7]

References

1. ^ South Carolina Nuclear Plants, eia.doe.gov
2. ^ "Oconee Nuclear Station". Duke Energy. http://www.duke-energy.com/power-plants/nuclear/oconee.asp. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 
3. ^ http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/29/2912054/sc-nuclear-plant-becoming-1st.html
4. ^ http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/emerg-plan-prep-nuc-power-bg.html
5. ^ 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.
6. ^ 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.
7. ^ http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Sections/NEWS/quake%20nrc%20risk%20estimates.pdf

External links

• "Oconee Nuclear Power Plant, South Carolina". U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). October 3, 2008. http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_glance/reactors/oconee.html. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 
• "Oconee 1 Pressurized Water Reactor". Operating Nuclear Power Reactors. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). February 14, 2008. http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/reactor/oco1.html. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 
• "Oconee 2 Pressurized Water Reactor". Operating Nuclear Power Reactors. NRC. February 14, 2008. http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/reactor/oco2.html. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 
• "Oconee 3 Pressurized Water Reactor". Operating Nuclear Power Reactors. NRC. February 14, 2008. http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/reactor/oco3.html. Retrieved 2008-11-17. 
• Williams, Buzz (Summer 1998). "Oconee Nuclear Station". The Chattooga Quarterly. Chattooga Conservancy. http://www.chattoogariver.org/Articles/1998S/OconeeS98.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-17.