River Bend Nuclear Generating Station
| River Bend Nuclear Generating Station | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Country | United States |
| Location | West Feliciana Parish, near St. Francisville, Louisiana |
| Coordinates | 30°45.4′N 91°20′W / 30.7567°N 91.333°WCoordinates: 30°45.4′N 91°20′W / 30.7567°N 91.333°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Commission date | June 16, 1986 |
| Owner(s) | Entergy Gulf States Inc. |
| Operator(s) | Entergy Nuclear |
| Architect(s) | Stone & Webster |
| Reactor information | |
| Reactors operational | 1 x 978 MW |
| Reactors planned | 1 x 1550 MW |
| Reactor type(s) | boiling water reactor |
| Reactor supplier(s) | General Electric |
| Power generation information | |
| Annual generation | 7,185 GW·h |
| As of 2008-09-28 | |
River Bend Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power station on a 3,300-acre (1,300 ha) site near St. Francisville, Louisiana, approximately 30 miles (50 km) north of Baton Rouge. The plant has a General Electric 978 MW[1] boiling water reactor, which began operation on June 16, 1986.
River Bend is operated by Entergy Nuclear and owned by Entergy Gulf States, Inc.
Unlike the Waterford Nuclear Generating Station downriver in Hahnville, River Bend continued operation throughout Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The plant was shut down during Hurricane Gustav in 2008.[2]
Contents |
Unit 2 [edit]
Unit 2 was proposed in 1973, but canceled in 1984.[3]
Unit 3 [edit]
On September 25, 2008, Entergy filed a Combined Construction and Operating License (COL) application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a new nuclear reactor at River Bend, of the 1,550 MWe Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) type.[4][5] The reactor's cost is an estimated $6.2 billion.[2] The NRC's review of the 13,000-page application will take at least 36 months.[6]
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.[7]
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of River Bend was 23,466, an increase of 11.1 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 951,103, an increase of 11.2 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Baton Rouge (25 miles to city center).[8]
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 River Bend was 1 in 40,000, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.[9][10]
Safety record [edit]
In 1994 junk was found accumulated in an emergency water pool, posing a potential clogging danger.
In 2008 there was a confirmed tritium leak.[11]
In July 2010, the owner reported to authorities that 9 operators had broken the safety regulations by surfing on the internet while monitoring reactor safety.[12]
See also [edit]
Notes [edit]
- ^ "River Bend Nuclear Power Plant, Louisiana". U.S. Department of Energy. September 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
- ^ a b DiSavino, Scott (September 22, 2008). "Entergy La. River Bend reactor starts to exit outage". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
- ^ Nuclear Power Generation and Fuel Cycle Report 1997 p. 66.
- ^ Mowbray, Rebecca (September 26, 2008). "Entergy seeks OK to expand La. plant". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
- ^ "River Bend Station, Unit 3 Application". U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. September 23, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
- ^ "River Bend application in". World Nuclear News. September 26, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
- ^ http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/emerg-plan-prep-nuc-power-bg.html
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Sections/NEWS/quake%20nrc%20risk%20estimates.pdf
- ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43475479/ns/us_news-environment/
- ^ http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Operator_inattention_attracts_fine_1001121.html
External links [edit]
- "River Bend Nuclear Power Plant, Louisiana". U.S. Department of Energy. September 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
- "River Bend Station". Entergy Nuclear. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
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