Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
| Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| location | ||
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| Coordinates | 42 ° 46 '44 " N , 72 ° 30' 47" W | |
| Country: | United States | |
| Data | ||
| Owner: | Entergy Corporation | |
| Operator: | Entergy Nuclear | |
| Commercial operation: | November 30, 1972 | |
| Shutdown: | 22nd December 2014 | |
|
Decommissioned reactors (gross): |
1 (650 MW) | |
| Energy fed in in 2007: | 4,703 GWh | |
| Energy fed in since commissioning: | 128,441 GWh | |
| Website: | www.safecleanreliable.com | |
| Was standing: | December 30, 2014 | |
| The data source of the respective entries can be found in the documentation . | ||
The decommissioned Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant has a boiling water reactor built by General Electric . It is located in Vernon , Vermont on the west bank of the Connecticut River .
history
Construction of the nuclear power plant began in late 1967 and went into commercial operation in 1972. It was cooled with two wooden cooling towers and water from the Connecticut River. The power plant was taken over by Entergy in 2002 .
In 2005, a 20% increase in benefit was requested and approved in 2006. In order to meet the higher cooling demand, larger and heavier fans were installed in the two cooling towers. On August 21, 2007, one of the two cooling towers partially collapsed due to rotten wooden structures. As a result, the reactor output had to be reduced to 50%. On July 11, 2008 there was a leak in the other cooling tower, whereupon the output had to be reduced to 23% due to the low volume of river water.
The granted operating license expires in 2012, so the operator applied for an extension of 20 years in 2006. This motion was rejected by the Vermont Senate , so the nuclear power plant should actually be shut down in 2012.
In March 2011, during the series of accidents in the identical reactors in Fukushima , the US nuclear authority granted a license for a further 20 years, despite the poor overall condition of the plant. On August 27, 2013, the owner Entergy announced, despite the extended license, that the nuclear power plant should be decommissioned in 2014, as continued operation is no longer economically viable.
The reason for the Senate's decision was a tritium leak in the underground of the plant, whereby the NRC supervisory authority had asserted that there was no immediate threat to the groundwater and that the development was being monitored with measuring probes. However, the Vermont Yankee plant has been in the political crossfire in the region for a long time and for other reasons. The increase in capacity approved in 2006 was problematic in that it had been calculated that in the event of a greater loss of cooling water from the reactor system (and this not only in the event of a leak, but also in the event of a pressure relief process as a result of transients , which is much more common than a leak), the pumps, which have to supplement the water loss, are dependent on the overpressure built up in the containment due to the incident in order to be able to suck in water (so-called NPSH problem). This is very problematic in cases in which the containment remains leaky (e.g. due to a valve that has remained open incorrectly ) and therefore does not have any overpressure. Nonetheless, the NRC approved this increase in output without, for example, requiring the retrofitting of more powerful pumps as compensation. This met with fierce opposition in the region, including from officials.
September 1, 2013: The operator announces that the reactor will be decommissioned after the current fuel elements have been used up. The decision is seen as a direct response to the Fukushima disaster, in which the same type of reactor was used.
At the end of February 2010, traces of 137 Cs were found on the site of the nuclear power plant, the concentration of which, according to the Vermont government, was three to twelve times higher than would have been expected from the entry of nuclear weapons tests and the Chernobyl disaster. The operator Entergy then announced that it would remove the soil and dispose of it as nuclear waste.
Shutdown
The reactor block was finally shut down on December 29, 2014. The reason for this was given by the operator as the lack of profitability compared to other power plants, in particular electricity generation from gas power plants. An operating license was in place until 2032.
Data of the reactor block
| Reactor block | Reactor type | net power |
gross power |
start of building | Network synchronization |
Commercialization of essential operation |
switching off processing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermont Yankee | Boiling water reactor | 620 MW | 650 MW | 12/11/1967 | 09/20/1972 | 11/30/1972 | 12/29/2014 |
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Operating Experience History - Vermont Yankee ( English ) IAEO . Retrieved July 28, 2008.
- ↑ Yankee strike averted ( English ) Rutland Herald. August 25, 2007. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
- ^ NRC Sends Specialists to Vermont Yankee to Review Cooling Tower Leak ( English ) Nuclear Regulatory Commission. July 15, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
- ^ Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station - License Renewal Application ( English ) Nuclear Regulatory Commission . May 28, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
- ↑ Vermont Senate wants Entergy reactor shut in 2012 , Reuters , February 24, 2010
- ↑ http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2010/journal/sj100224.pdf
- ↑ Renewed Facility Operating License (PDF)
- ↑ http://www.n-tv.de/politik/USA- Lassen-Pannen-AKW-am-Netz- article2920396.html
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/science/entergy-announces-closing-of-vermont-nuclear-plant.html?_r=0
- ^ Electric Power Research Institute: Implications of the problem of Net Positive Suction Head , 2006
- ↑ US nuclear power plant: radioactive substances contaminate soil . Mirror online. March 30, 2010. Accessed March 31, 2010.
- ^ A b Vermont Yankee nuclear plant shutdown complete . In: The Boston Globe , December 29, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
- ↑ Power Reactor Information System of the IAEA : "United States of America: Nuclear Power Reactors - Alphabetic" (English)
