Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Generating Station

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Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Generating Station
Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Generating Station is located in Alabama
Location of Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Generating Station
Country United States
Location Dothan, Alabama
Coordinates 31°13′23″N 85°6′42″W / 31.22306°N 85.11167°W / 31.22306; -85.11167Coordinates: 31°13′23″N 85°6′42″W / 31.22306°N 85.11167°W / 31.22306; -85.11167
Status Operational
Construction began 1970 –
Commission date Unit 1: Dec. 1, 1977
Unit 2: July 30, 1981
Licence expiration Unit 1: June 25, 2037
Unit 2: March 31, 2041
Construction cost ~$1.57 billion
Owner(s) Alabama Power
Operator(s) Southern Nuclear
Architect(s) Southern Services, Inc.
Reactor information
Reactors operational 1 x 851 MW
1 x 860 MW
Reactor type(s) pressurized water reactor
Reactor supplier(s) Westinghouse
Power generation information
Annual generation 13,098 GW·h
Net generation >200,000
Website www.southerncompany.com/southernnuclear/farley
As of 2008-11-17

The Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Generating Station is located near Dothan, Alabama in the southern United States. The twin-unit nuclear power station sits on a 1,850-acre (750 ha) site in Houston County, which is largely wooded and agricultural.

The plant is named after the late Joseph McConnell Farley, an American attorney born in Birmingham, Alabama who became president of Alabama Power (owner of the facility) from 1969 to 1989 and was later CEO of Southern Nuclear Operating Company; both companies are subsidiaries of Southern Company.

This plant has two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors.

  • Unit 1 900 MWe
  • Unit 2 920 MWe

Construction of the plant began in 1970. Unit 1 achieved commercial operation in December 1977. Unit 2 began commercial operation in July 1981. The total cost of the plant was about $1.57 billion. On May 12, 2005, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved license renewal applications for both reactors at the site. Unit 1's extended operating license is set to expire on June 25, 2037 and Unit 2's on March 31, 2041.

Contents

Ownership[edit]

Unit 1 900 MWe Unit 2 920 MWe from website of USNRC

Surrounding population[edit]

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.[1]

The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Farley was 11,842, an increase of 8.0 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 421,374, an increase of 6.1 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Dothan (17 miles to city center).[2]

Seismic risk[edit]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at Farley was 1 in 35,714, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.[3][4]

References[edit]

  1. ^ http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/emerg-plan-prep-nuc-power-bg.html
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Sections/NEWS/quake%20nrc%20risk%20estimates.pdf

External links[edit]