Yankee Rowe
Encyclopedia
Nuclear decommissioning
Nuclear decommissioning is the dismantling of a nuclear power plant and decontamination of the site to a state no longer requiring protection from radiation for the general public...
) was a nuclear power plant
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...
in Rowe, Massachusetts
Rowe, Massachusetts
Rowe is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 351 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, that operated from 1960 to 1992.
The Yankee Nuclear Power Station (YNPS) - also known as "Yankee Rowe" - was the third commercial nuclear power plant built in the United States and the first built in New England. The 185-megawatt electric pressurized-water Yankee Rowe plant, located on the Deerfield River in the town of Rowe
Rowe, Massachusetts
Rowe is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 351 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
in western Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, permanently shut down on February 26, 1992 after more than 31 years of producing electricity for New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
electric consumers.
Construction of the plant was completed in 1960 at a cost of $39 million. The capital cost was $45 million against an estimated cost of $57 million, according to the engineering consultant Kenneth Nichols
Kenneth Nichols
Kenneth David "Nick" Nichols was a United States Army officer and an engineer. He worked on the Manhattan Project which developed the Atomic Bomb during World War II as Deputy District Engineer and then District Engineer of the Manhattan Engineer District...
, who had been deputy to Groves on the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
.. During its 32-year operating history, the Yankee plant generated over 34 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, and had a lifetime capacity factor of 74%.
The plant, the first large-scale nuclear unit and the first privately-owned pressurized-water plant, was shut down prematurely due to reactor pressure vessel embrittlement concerns, a safety factor now scrutinized in all plants (see ductility
Ductility
In materials science, ductility is a solid material's ability to deform under tensile stress; this is often characterized by the material's ability to be stretched into a wire. Malleability, a similar property, is a material's ability to deform under compressive stress; this is often characterized...
).
Yankee Atomic Electric Company (YAEC) was incorporated in Massachusetts in 1954. YAEC was sponsored by ten New England utilities for the purpose of constructing and operating New England's first nuclear power plant, the Yankee Nuclear Power Station. Owners and ownership percentage:
- New England Power Company 34.5%
- The Connecticut Light and Power Company 24.5%
- Boston Edison Company 9.5%
- Central Maine Power Company 9.5%
- Public Service Company of New Hampshire 7.0%
- Western Massachusetts Electric Company 7.0%
- Central Vermont Public Service Corporation 3.5%
- Commonwealth Electric Company 2.5%
- Cambridge Electric Light Company 2.0%
Most of the men and women who worked either in the plant or during the decommissioning efforts referred to the site as "Yankee-Rowe" or simply "Rowe", to avoid confusion with Vermont Yankee
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
Vermont Yankee is a General Electric boiling water reactor type nuclear power plant currently owned by Entergy. It is located in the town of Vernon, Vermont, and generates 620 megawatts of electricity at full power. The plant began commercial operations in 1972...
, a nuclear power station located in Vernon, Vermont
Vernon, Vermont
Vernon is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,141 at the 2000 census. Vernon is the home of Vermont Yankee, Vermont's only nuclear power plant.-Geography:...
.
In a recent news article, 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...
has stated that the decommissioning of Yankee Rowe is completed. The land is stated by the NRC to be completely safe. 533 spent fuel assemblies (weighing approximately 800 lbs each) are still on-site, contained in dry casks built of concrete and steel. These will be located at the site until the U.S. Department of Energy completes a permanent storage facility for spent nuclear reactor fuel and the spent fuel stored at Rowe can be transferred to such a future federal facility. The time frame for removal of spent fuel from the Yankee Rowe site is unknown.
See also
- Nuclear power in the United States
- List of anti-nuclear protests in the United States
- Anti-nuclear movement in the United StatesAnti-nuclear movement in the United StatesThe anti-nuclear movement in the United States consists of more than 80 anti-nuclear groups which have acted to oppose nuclear power or nuclear weapons, or both, in the United States. These groups include the Abalone Alliance, Clamshell Alliance, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research,...