- McGuire Nuclear Station
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McGuire Nuclear Station Location of McGuire Nuclear Station
Country United States Location Mecklenburg County, near Huntersville, North Carolina Coordinates 35°25′57″N 80°56′54″W / 35.4325°N 80.94833°WCoordinates: 35°25′57″N 80°56′54″W / 35.4325°N 80.94833°W Status Operational Commission date Unit 1: December 1, 1981
Unit 2: March 1, 1984Licence expiration Unit 1: June 12, 2041
Unit 2: March 3, 2043Owner(s) Duke Energy Corporation Operator(s) Duke Power Company Reactor information Reactors operational 2 x 1100 MW Reactor type(s) pressurized water reactor Reactor supplier(s) Westinghouse Power generation information Annual generation 17,620 GW·h Website
www.duke-energy.com/.../mcguireAs of 2008-11-17 The McGuire Nuclear Station is a nuclear power plant located about 17 miles (27 km) northwest of Charlotte, North Carolina, on the state's largest lake, Lake Norman. It is a 32,500-acre (132 km²) lake created in 1963 by Duke Power for the Cowans Ford Hydroelectric Station. The McGuire units use the lake's water for cooling.
This plant has two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors and has a capability to produce 2,200 megawatts of power, with a net generation of 17,514 GW·h in 2005. This represents 44% of the total nuclear power generation for the state of North Carolina.[1]
Contents
Ownership
The McGuire plant is operated by Duke Power Company and owned by the Duke Energy Corporation.
License
The original operating licenses' expiration dates were 2021-06-12 for Unit 1 and 2023-03-03 for Unit 2. In 2003, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) renewed the licenses for both reactors for an additional twenty years.[2]
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.[3]
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of McGuire was 199,869, an increase of 66.8 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 2,850,782, an increase of 23.3 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Charlotte (17 miles to city center).[4]
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 McGuire was 1 in 32,258, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.[5][6]
References
- ^ "North Carolina Nuclear Industry". Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_glance/states/statesnc.html. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- ^ "NRC Renews Licenses for Catawba and McGuire Nuclear Power Plants for an Additional 20 Years". Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). December 5, 2003. http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2003/03-159.html. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- ^ 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
- Official Site From Duke Energy
- "McGuire Nuclear Power Plant, North Carolina". Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). October 3, 2008. http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_glance/reactors/mcguire.html. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- "McGuire 1 Pressurized Water Reactor". Operating Nuclear Power Reactors. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). February 14, 2008. http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/reactor/mcg1.html. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
- "McGuire 2 Pressurized Water Reactor". Operating Nuclear Power Reactors. NRC. February 14, 2008. http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/reactor/mcg2.html. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
Categories:- Energy resource facilities in North Carolina
- Nuclear power stations in the United States
- Buildings and structures in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
- Nuclear power plants in North Carolina
- Nuclear power stations using pressurized water reactors
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