Beaver_Valley_Nuclear_Generating_Station

Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station

Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station

Nuclear power plant located near Shippingport, Pennsylvania

Beaver Valley Power Station is a nuclear power plant on the Ohio River covering 1,000 acres (400 ha) near Shippingport, Pennsylvania, United States, 27 miles (43 km) roughly northwest of Pittsburgh. The plant is operated by Energy Harbor and power is generated by two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors. As of 2023, it is the fourth largest employer in Beaver County.[2]

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In 2018, previous owner FirstEnergy Solutions filed for bankruptcy and announced the plant would begin deactivation by 2021. However, upon emergence from bankruptcy in 2020 as new owner Energy Harbor, the shutdown of the plant was reversed largely due to then Governor Tom Wolf's decision to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.[3]

In 2023, it was announced that parent company Energy Harbor will be acquired by retail electricity and power generation company Vistra Corp, who is based in Irving, Tx.[4]

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 Beaver Valley was 114,514, a decrease of 6.6 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 3,140,766, a decrease of 3.7 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Pittsburgh (27 miles away, located upriver from the station).[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 Beaver Valley was Reactor 1: 1 in 20,833; Reactor 2: 1 in 45,455, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.[7][8]

Fessenheim

Beaver Valley 1 was used as the reference design for the French nuclear plant at Fessenheim.[9]

Electricity Production

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See also

References

  1. [1]
    "EIA – State Nuclear Profiles". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  2. [2]
    "Top 50 Employers, Beaver County, 2nd Quarter 2023" (PDF).
  3. [3]
    "Owners of Pa.'s Beaver Valley nuclear power station will keep it open because of state's climate plan". StateImpact Pennsylvania. 2020-03-13. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  4. [4]
    Corp, Vistra. "Vistra Announces Acquisition of Energy Harbor – Vistra Corp Legislative Hub". Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  5. [5]
    "NRC: Emergency Planning Zones". United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
  6. [6]
    Bill Dedman, Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors, NBC News, April 14, 2011 http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42555888 Accessed May 1, 2011.
  7. [7]
    Bill Dedman, "What are the odds? US nuke plants ranked by quake risk," NBC News, March 17, 2011 http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42103936 Accessed April 19, 2011.
  8. [8]
    "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-05-25. Retrieved 2011-04-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. [9]
    Thèse, publiée sur internet, de FOASSO Cyrille (Université Lumière Lyon2 - 2003) "Histoire de la sûreté de l'énergie nucléaire civile en France (1945–2000)" Le concept de centrale de référence : assurer les conditions d'un transfert de technologie optimum - "Dans cet apprentissage de la technologie des réacteurs à eau légère, EDF s'appuie sur le concept dit de «centrale de référence», adopté pour suppléer à son manque de connaissances en profondeur de ce type de réacteurs. Le concept de centrale de référence marque une étape fondamentale dans l'opération de transfert de technologie depuis les Etats-Unis vers la France." "pour Fessenheim c'est la centrale de Beaver Valley qui est choisie comme référence"
  10. [10]
    "Electricity Data Browser". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
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