Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant
| Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant | |
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 Seabrook Station |
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| Country | United States |
| Location | Seabrook, New Hampshire |
| Coordinates | 42°53′56″N 70°51′03″W / 42.89889°N 70.85083°WCoordinates: 42°53′56″N 70°51′03″W / 42.89889°N 70.85083°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Commission date | March 15, 1990 |
| Licence expiration | October 17, 2026 |
| Owner(s) | NextEra Energy Resources |
| Constructor(s) | United Engineers and Constructors |
| Reactor information | |
| Reactors operational | 1 X 1,194 MW |
| Reactors cancelled | 1 X 1,194 MW |
| Reactor type(s) | PWR |
| Reactor supplier(s) | Westinghouse |
| Turbine manufacturer(s) | General Electric |
| Power generation information | |
| Installed capacity | 1244 MW |
| Annual generation | 10,763 GW·h |
| Website http://www.fpl.com/environment/nuclear/about_seabrook_station.shtml |
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The Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant located in Seabrook, New Hampshire, United States. Two units (reactors) were planned, but the second unit was never completed due to construction delays, cost overruns and troubles obtaining financing. The construction permit for the plant was granted in 1976, and construction on Unit 1 was completed in 1986. Full power operation of Unit 1 began in 1990. The station is one of five nuclear generating facilities operated by FPL Group.
Years before construction started at Seabrook, residents had opposed the plant, and more than 2,000 members of the Clamshell Alliance occupied the site in April 1977. 1,414 of the anti-nuclear activists were arrested and held for two weeks after they refused bail. Over a period of thirteen years, from 1976 to 1989, over 4,000 citizens "committed nonviolent civil disobedience at Seabrook in the effort to stop nuclear power".[1] Another vocal opponent of the plant was former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, who blocked the opening for several years due to environmental issues as well as concern about emergency evacuation plans.
The construction of Seabrook was completed ten years later than expected, with a cost approaching $7 billion. The large debt involved led to the bankruptcy of Seabrook's major utility owner, Public Service Company of New Hampshire.
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[edit] Details
The Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, more commonly known as Seabrook Station, is located in Seabrook, New Hampshire, approximately 40 miles (64 km) north of Boston, Massachusetts, and 10 miles (16 km) south of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
The plant consists of one Westinghouse pressurized water reactor which can generate 1,296 MWe at full power (since uprate). It is cooled by water from the Atlantic Ocean.
[edit] History
In the eight years before construction started at Seabrook, residents had opposed the plant before regulatory agencies and in a town meeting vote. Spurred on by the failure of these methods and by the success of a large anti-nuclear site occupation in Wyhl, Germany, local people formed the Clamshell Alliance.[2]
Several small demonstrations at the site occurred in the lead-up to a massive occupation of Seabrook. More than 2,000 members of the Clamshell Alliance occupied the site in April, 1977. 1,414 of the activists were arrested and held for two weeks after they refused bail.[3] Over a period of thirteen years, from 1976 to 1989, over 4,000 citizens "committed nonviolent civil disobedience at Seabrook in the effort to stop nuclear power".[1]
Another vocal opponent of the plant was former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, who blocked the opening for several years due to environmental issues as well as concern about emergency evacuation plans. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission had stipulated that workable evacuation plans needed to be in place for all towns within a 10-mile (16 km) radius of the plant. Four Massachusetts towns were within the ten-mile radius, and thus Governor Dukakis' approval of evacuation plans was required.[1]
The construction of Seabrook was completed ten years later than expected, with a cost approaching $7 billion. The large debt involved led to the bankruptcy of Seabrook's major utility owner, Public Service Company of New Hampshire. At the time, this was the fourth largest bankruptcy in United States corporate history.[1]
[edit] Ownership and security
The plant was originally owned by more than 10 separate utility companies serving five New England states. In 2002, most sold their shares to FPL Energy (a subsidiary of FPL Group), later known as NextEra Energy Resources. NextEra Energy now owns 88.2% of Seabrook Station. The remaining portion is owned by municipal utilities in Massachusetts.
The station is one of five nuclear generating facilities operated by FPL Group. The other four are St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant and Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station operated by sister company Florida Power & Light (a regulated utility), and the Duane Arnold Energy Center and Point Beach Nuclear Generating Station operated by NextEra.
The Wackenhut Corporation provides plant security to three of the four sites. Seabrook, St. Lucie, and Turkey Point experienced security related problems between 2004 and 2006. At Seabrook, US congressmen and the NRC investigated reports that a newly installed security fence had not worked properly since its installation six months earlier, in addition to reports of overworked security officers.[4][5][6][7][8]
[edit] Relicensing
In 2010, the plant applied to have its operating license extended from 2030 to 2050.[9]
As of February 2012, there are safety concerns about concrete degradation at the plant. Concrete surrounding an electric control tunnel at the nuclear plant has lost almost 22 percent of its strength and is showing signs of an alkali-silica (ASR) reaction because of more than a decade of ground-water infiltration, according to an NRC inspection report released in May 2011. A growing chorus of local politicians is "urging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to halt the relicensing process for Seabrook Station until a long-term solution is implemented".[10]
[edit] Second reactor
A second reactor was proposed in 1972 and canceled in 1988.[11]
During the 2008 presidential election, Republican nominee John McCain mentioned the possibility of building the once-planned second reactor at Seabrook. The idea drew cautious support from some officials, but would be difficult due to financial and regulatory reasons. [1]
[edit] Surrounding population
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.[12]
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Seabrook was 118,747, an increase of 10.1 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 4,315,571, an increase of 8.7 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Boston (40 miles to city center).[13]
[edit] 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 Seabrook was 1 in 45,455, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.[14][15]
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Seabrook Station seen from Powwow Hill in nearby Amesbury, Massachusetts
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Seabrook Station behind the Blackwater River seen from Route 1A in Seabrook, New Hampshire
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Clamshell Alliance: Thirteen Years of Anti-Nuclear Activism at Seabrook, New Hampshire, U.S.A.
- ^ Steve E. Barkan. Strategic, Tactical and Organizational Dilemmas of the protest Movement Against Nuclear Power Social Problems, Vol. 27, No. 1, October 1979, p. 24.
- ^ The Siege of Seabrook - TIME
- ^ Portsmouth Herald Local News: Nuke plant fence was ‘inoperable’
- ^ Hampton Union Local News: Congressmen question NRC
- ^ Portsmouth Herald Editorial: Public has right to know about failed Seabrook Station fence
- ^ Fosters.com - Dover NH, Rochester NH, Portsmouth NH, Laconia NH, Sanford ME
- ^ Fosters.com - Dover NH, Rochester NH, Portsmouth NH, Laconia NH, Sanford ME
- ^ GraniteGeek:Seabrook nuke plant seeks another 20 years of life
- ^ Brenda J. (February 9, 2012). "Local leaders question safety of Seabrook power plant". Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2012/02/09/local_leaders_question_safety_of_seabrook_power_plant/.
- ^ Nuclear Power Generation and Fuel Cycle Report 1997 p. 67.
- ^ 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
[edit] External links
Media related to Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant at Wikimedia Commons
- "About Seabrook Station", Florida Power & Light
- New Hampshire Nuclear Profile, including details on Seabrook; U.S. Energy Information Administration
- "30th Anniversary of Mass Arrests at Seabrook, NH, Anti-Nuclear Rally", photo essay by Lionel Delevingne at motherjones.com
- Seabrook, NH Nuclear Plant Occupation Page with timeline, scanned articles 1977-2007, images and links
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