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Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant

Coordinates: 35°38′00″N 78°57′18″W / 35.6333°N 78.955°W / 35.6333; -78.955
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Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant
Shearon Harris Unit 1
Map
CountryUnited States of America
Coordinates35°38′00″N 78°57′18″W / 35.6333°N 78.955°W / 35.6333; -78.955
StatusOperational
Commission dateMay 2, 1987
Construction cost$3.9 billion
OperatorsProgress Energy
Power generation
Nameplate capacity
  • 950.9 MW
External links
WebsiteProgress Energy Harris Plant
CommonsRelated media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata]

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 budget issues and weak demand resulted in three of the reactors being cancelled. The final cost was nearly $3.9B, which includes the cost of safety upgrades mandated after the Three Mile Island accident.

On November 16, 2006, the operator applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a renewal and extension of the plant's operating license.[1] The NRC granted the renewal on December 17, 2008, extending the license from forty years to sixty.[2]

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.[3]

Expansion of the plant will require raising the water level of Harris Lake by 20 feet,[4] 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. [5] The generator was refurbished and installed during a refueling outage in November, 2010.

Controversy

The anti-nuclear group "N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network" (NC-WARN) believes that Shearon Harris' safety and security record is insufficient, and questions whether it is the most dangerous nuclear plant in the US[6][7]. However, the plant's technical and security systems have passed all Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) standards[8] as of 2008, including protection and security, and no worker or area resident has been injured as a result of the plant's operation.

In 2010, Project Censored, a non-profit, investigative journalism project, ranked the safety issues at Shearon Harris the 4th most under-reported story of the year, because of the risk of fires at what are the largest spent fuel pools in the country:[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. Congressman David Price of North Carolina sent the NRC a report by scientists at MIT and Princeton that pinpointed the waste pools as the biggest risk at the plant. "Spent fuel recently discharged from a reactor could heat up relatively rapidly and catch fire," wrote Bob Alvarez, a former advisor to the Department of Energy and co-author of the report. "The fire could well spread to older fuel. The long-term land contamination consequences of such an event could be significantly worse than Chernobyl."

In August 2007, NC WARN dropped a lawsuit against Progress Energy that was intended to delay or prevent expansion of Shearon Harris, claiming that continuing the legal battle would cost at least $200,000.[10]

References

  1. ^ "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)
  2. ^ "Shearon Harris operating licence extended". World Nuclear News. December 18, 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "Submission for new nuclear at Harris". World Nuclear News. 19 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
  4. ^ 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) [dead link]
  5. ^ "Three Mile Island generator moving to Shearon Harris". WRAL. Retrieved 2010-01-22.
  6. ^ The Most Dangerous U.S. N-Plant? NRC's Dishonest Rating System
  7. ^ 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)
  8. ^ NRC Performance Summary, 1Q 2008
  9. ^ Nuclear Waste Pools in North Carolina
  10. ^ Murawski, John (2007-08-21). "Nuclear license fight dropped". Raleigh News & Observer. Archived from the original on 2007-08-24. Retrieved 2007-10-18. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
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