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==Controversies==
==Controversies==


Nuclear reactors are a highly contentious issue among some citizens of North Carolina.<ref>See for example: ''The Gender Gap and Nuclear Power: Attitudes in a Politicized Environment'', L.S. Solomon, D. Tomaskovic-Devey and B.J. Risman, [[Sex Roles (magazine)|''Sex Roles'']], No.&nbsp;5/6 1989</ref> Citizen groups maintain that Shearon Harris' safety and security record is insufficient<ref>{{cite news | first=Sue | last=Sturgis | coauthors= | title=The Report is Bullshit | date=2006-03-29 | publisher= | url =http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A29678 | work =The Independent Weekly| pages = | accessdate = 2007-10-18 | language = }}</ref>, that have included an unusually high number of shutdowns per year, including several described by opponents as "potentially catastrophic."<ref>[Pools of Fire: The Looming Nuclear Nightmare in the Backwoods of North Carolina http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair08092008.html]</ref>:
Nuclear reactors are a highly contentious issue among some citizens of North Carolina.<ref>See for example: ''The Gender Gap and Nuclear Power: Attitudes in a Politicized Environment'', L.S. Solomon, D. Tomaskovic-Devey and B.J. Risman, [[Sex Roles (magazine)|''Sex Roles'']], No.&nbsp;5/6 1989</ref> Citizen groups maintain that Shearon Harris' safety and security record is insufficient<ref>{{cite news | first=Sue | last=Sturgis | coauthors= | title=The Report is Bullshit | date=2006-03-29 | publisher= | url =http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A29678 | work =The Independent Weekly| pages = | accessdate = 2007-10-18 | language = }}</ref>, that have included an unusually high number of shutdowns per year, including several described by opponents as "potentially catastrophic."<ref>[http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair08092008.html Pools of Fire: The Looming Nuclear Nightmare in the Backwoods of North Carolina]</ref>:


<blockquote>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.</blockquote>
<blockquote>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.</blockquote>

Revision as of 08:00, 5 April 2010

Template:Infobox Nuclear power plant Template:Nuke-NRC2 The Shearon Harris Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant with a single Westinghouse designed pressurized-water nuclear reactor operated by 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 construction and budget issues resulted in three of the reactors being cancelled. The original budget estimated a cost of $1.1 billion for four reactors; the final cost of the single reactor that was constructed was nearly $4 billion.[1]

On November 16, 2006, the operator applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a renewal and extension of the plant's operating license.[2] The NRC granted the renewal on December 17, 2008, extending the license from forty years to sixty.[3]

Units 2 & 3

On February 19, 2008 Progress filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (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.[4]

Expansion of the plant will require raising the water level of Harris Lake by 20 feet,[5] 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. Preliminary work is under way to move the generator. It will be transported in two parts, weighing a combined 670 tons. Three Mile Island's Unit 2 reactor has been shut down since a partial meltdown in 1979.[6]

Controversies

Nuclear reactors are a highly contentious issue among some citizens of North Carolina.[7] Citizen groups maintain that Shearon Harris' safety and security record is insufficient[8], that have included an unusually high number of shutdowns per year, including several described by opponents as "potentially catastrophic."[9]:

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.

A report by scientists at MIT and Princeton[10] criticized safety issues at the plant that "could be significantly worse than Chernobyl" and:

...recommended relatively inexpensive fixes, which would have cost Progress approximately $5 million a year—less than the $6.6 million annual bonus for Progress CEO Warren Cavanaugh.

However, the plant's technical and security systems have passed all Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) standards[11] as of 2008, including protection and security, and no worker or area resident has been injured as a result of the plant's operation.

One incident mentioned involves the transport of radioactive waste from those two plants to Shearon Harris that takes place six times a year and involves loading shipping casks onto heavily-guarded trains and trucks. Since dry storage was constructed at the Robinson Plant in early 2005, the only plant currently shipping fuel to Harris is the Brunswick Plant. [12] In 2002, between one and two "inmates on work release" accidentally boarded a train that was carrying nuclear waste to Shearon Harris.[13]

Issues with the plant led to the formation of citizens' action groups such as NC WARN (North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network).

However, in August of 2007, NC WARN dropped a lawsuit against Progress Energy that was intended to delay or prevent expansion of Shearon Harris, claiming that continuing their legal battle would cost at least $200,000.[14]

Passive fire protection

Shearon Harris, not unlike other NRC licensees, has used Thermo-Lag endothermic fireproofing for the purpose of circuit integrity to protect safe-shutdown wiring between the nuclear reactor and the control room. The Thermo-Lag scandal became known as a result of disclosures by whistleblower Gerald W. Brown. To mitigate the problem, the plant used another fireproofing system, which subsequently also failed fire testing, requiring the operator to use further means to mitigate the problem.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Murawski, John (2007-10-24). "Triangle picked as a nuclear site". Raleigh News & Observer. Retrieved 2007-10-18. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ "Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant - License Renewal Application". Operating Reactor Licensing. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). December 1, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "Shearon Harris operating licence extended". World Nuclear News. December 18, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "Submission for new nuclear at Harris". World Nuclear News. 19 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  5. ^ Murawski, John (2007-09-20). "Progress prepares for new reactors". Raleigh News & Observer. Retrieved 2007-10-18. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ "Three Mile Island generator moving to Shearon Harris". WRAL. Retrieved 2010-1-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  7. ^ See for example: The Gender Gap and Nuclear Power: Attitudes in a Politicized Environment, L.S. Solomon, D. Tomaskovic-Devey and B.J. Risman, Sex Roles, No. 5/6 1989
  8. ^ Sturgis, Sue (2006-03-29). "The Report is Bullshit". The Independent Weekly. Retrieved 2007-10-18. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ Pools of Fire: The Looming Nuclear Nightmare in the Backwoods of North Carolina
  10. ^ http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/4-nuclear-waste-pools-in-north-carolina/
  11. ^ NRC Performance Summary, 1Q 2008
  12. ^ "Spent Fuel - Progress Energy". Progress Energy Inc. Retrieved 2009-12-31.
  13. ^ Waren, Jim (2002-04-30). "Security Breach on Nuclear Waste Train. Inmates Jump Wrong Train, Revealing Vulnerability of CP&L Shipments". Nuclear Information and Resource Service. Retrieved 2007-10-18. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  14. ^ Murawski, John (2007-08-21). "Nuclear license fight dropped". Raleigh News & Observer. Retrieved 2007-10-18. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
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