Shearon Harris nuclear power plant
Encyclopedia
The Shearon Harris Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant
with a single Westinghouse
designed pressurized-water
nuclear reactor
operated by Progress Energy
. It was named in honor of W. Shearon Harris, former president of Carolina Power & Light (predecessor of Progress Energy). Located in New Hill
, North Carolina
, in the United States
, about 20 miles (30 km) southwest of Raleigh
, it generates 900 MWe
, has a 523 foot (160 m) natural draft cooling tower, and uses Harris Lake for cooling. The reactor achieved criticality in January 1987 and began providing power commercially on May 2 of that year.
The Shearon Harris site was originally designed for four reactors, but budget issues and weak demand resulted in three of the reactors being cancelled. The final cost was nearly $3.9B, which includes the cost of safety upgrades mandated after the Three Mile Island accident.
On November 16, 2006, the operator applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) for a renewal and extension of the plant's operating license.
The NRC granted the renewal on December 17, 2008, extending the license from forty years to sixty.
defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16.1 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80.5 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16.1 km) of Shearon Harris was 96,401, an increase of 62.6 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80.5 km) was 2,562,573, an increase of 26.0 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Raleigh (21 miles to city center), Durham (24 miles to city center), Fayetteville (39 miles to city center).
(NRC) for a Combined Construction and Operating License
(COL). It seeks to build two 1,100 MWe Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactors.
Although the NRC has already certified the AP1000 design, the application review is expected to take about 36 months. The new reactors would not be operational before 2018.
Expansion of the plant will require raising the water level of Harris Lake by 20 feet, decreasing the size of Wake County's
largest park, with the Cape Fear River
as a backup water source.
On January 22, 2010 officials at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced the electrical generator
from the damaged Unit 2 reactor at Three Mile Island
will be used at Shearon Harris. The generator was refurbished and installed during a refueling outage in November, 2010.
(NRC) standards , including protection and security, and no worker or area resident has been injured as a result of the plant's operation.
In 2010, Project Censored
, a non-profit, investigative journalism project, ranked the safety issues at Shearon Harris the 4th most under-reported story of the year, because of the risk of fires at what are the largest spent fuel pools in the country:
In August 2007, NC WARN dropped a lawsuit against Progress Energy that was intended to delay or prevent expansion of Shearon Harris, claiming that continuing the legal battle would cost at least $200,000.
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
with a single Westinghouse
Westinghouse Electric Company
Westinghouse Electric Company LLC is a nuclear power company, offering a wide range of nuclear products and services to utilities throughout the world, including nuclear fuel, service and maintenance, instrumentation and control and advanced nuclear plant designs...
designed pressurized-water
Pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
operated by Progress Energy
Progress Energy Inc
Progress Energy , headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is a Fortune 500 energy company with more than 21,000 megawatts of generation capacity and $9 billion in annual revenues. Progress Energy includes two major electric utilities that serve approximately 3.1 million customers in the Carolinas and...
. It was named in honor of W. Shearon Harris, former president of Carolina Power & Light (predecessor of Progress Energy). Located in New Hill
New Hill, North Carolina
New Hill is an unincorporated community located in southwestern Wake County, North Carolina, at the crossroads of old U.S. 1, New Hill-Olive Chapel Road and New Hill-Holleman Road...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, about 20 miles (30 km) southwest of Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
, it generates 900 MWe
MWE
MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...
, has a 523 foot (160 m) natural draft cooling tower, and uses Harris Lake for cooling. The reactor achieved criticality in January 1987 and began providing power commercially on May 2 of that year.
The Shearon Harris site was originally designed for four reactors, but budget issues and weak demand resulted in three of the reactors being cancelled. The final cost was nearly $3.9B, which includes the cost of safety upgrades mandated after the Three Mile Island accident.
On November 16, 2006, the operator applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
(NRC) for a renewal and extension of the plant's operating license.
The NRC granted the renewal on December 17, 2008, extending the license from forty years to sixty.
Surrounding population
The Nuclear Regulatory CommissionNuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16.1 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80.5 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16.1 km) of Shearon Harris was 96,401, an increase of 62.6 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80.5 km) was 2,562,573, an increase of 26.0 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Raleigh (21 miles to city center), Durham (24 miles to city center), Fayetteville (39 miles to city center).
Units 3 & 4
On February 19, 2008 Progress filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory CommissionNuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
(NRC) for a Combined Construction and Operating License
Combined Construction and Operating License
The Combined Construction and Operating License replaced the previous Draft Regulatory Guide 1145 as the licensing process for new nuclear power plants in the United States...
(COL). It seeks to build two 1,100 MWe Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactors.
Although the NRC has already certified the AP1000 design, the application review is expected to take about 36 months. The new reactors would not be operational before 2018.
Expansion of the plant will require raising the water level of Harris Lake by 20 feet, decreasing the size of Wake County's
Wake County, North Carolina
Wake County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 900,993 making it North Carolina's second most populated county...
largest park, with the Cape Fear River
Cape Fear River
The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina in the United States. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The overall water quality of the river is continuously measured and monitored by and conducted by the , , and the...
as a backup water source.
On January 22, 2010 officials at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced the electrical generator
Electrical generator
In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow...
from the damaged Unit 2 reactor at Three Mile Island
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station is a civilian nuclear power plant located on Three Mile Island in the Susquehanna River, south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It has two separate units, known as TMI-1 and TMI-2...
will be used at Shearon Harris. The generator was refurbished and installed during a refueling outage in November, 2010.
Controversy
The anti-nuclear group "N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network" (NC-WARN) believes that Shearon Harris' safety and security record is insufficient, and questions whether it is the most dangerous nuclear plant in the US. However, the plant's technical and security systems have passed all Nuclear Regulatory CommissionNuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
(NRC) standards , including protection and security, and no worker or area resident has been injured as a result of the plant's operation.
In 2010, Project Censored
Project Censored
Project Censored is a non-profit, media criticism and investigative journalism project within the Sonoma State University Foundation. It is managed through the School of Social Sciences at the university....
, a non-profit, investigative journalism project, ranked the safety issues at Shearon Harris the 4th most under-reported story of the year, because of the risk of fires at what are the largest spent fuel pools in the country:
Between 1999 and 2003, there were twelve major problems requiring the shutdown of the plant. According to the NRC, the national average for commercial reactors is one shutdown per eighteen months.
Congressman David Price of North Carolina sent the NRC a report by scientists at MIT and Princeton that pinpointed the waste pools as the biggest risk at the plant. "Spent fuel recently discharged from a reactor could heat up relatively rapidly and catch fire," wrote Bob Alvarez, a former advisor to the Department of Energy and co-author of the report. "The fire could well spread to older fuel. The long-term land contamination consequences of such an event could be significantly worse than Chernobyl."
In August 2007, NC WARN dropped a lawsuit against Progress Energy that was intended to delay or prevent expansion of Shearon Harris, claiming that continuing the legal battle would cost at least $200,000.
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 Shearon Harris was 1 in 434,783, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.Reactor data
The Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant consist of one operational reactor, three addional units was cancelled. Two new additional reactors are planned.| Reactor unit | Reactor type | Capacity | Construction started | Electricity grid connection | Commercial operation | Shutdown | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net | Gross | ||||||
| Shearon Harris-1 | Westinghouse 3-loop | 900 MW | 960 MW | 28 January 1978 | 19 January 1987 | 02 May 1987 | |
| Shearon Harris-2 | Westinghouse 3-loop | 900 MW | 960 MW | 01 January 1978 | Cancelled construction on 01 December 1983 | ||
| Shearon Harris-3 | Westinghouse 3-loop | 900 MW | 960 MW | 01 January 1978 | Cancelled construction on 01 December 1981 | ||
| Shearon Harris-4 | Westinghouse 3-loop | 900 MW | 960 MW | 01 January 1978 | Cancelled construction on 01 December 1981 | ||
| Shearon Harris-3 (planned) | AP1000 | 1117 MW | MW | ||||
| Shearon Harris-4 (planned) | AP1000 | 1117 MW | MW | ||||
External links
- NRC treatise on circuit integrity measures, including Shearon Harris
- NRC Public Information regarding the Units 2 & 3 Expansion Proposal
- DoE information
- INDY News article about local opposition to NRC safety oversight
- http://www.nukeworker.com/pictures/thumbnails-101.html
- http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power.htm