Brunswick Nuclear Generating Station

Brunswick Nuclear Plant
Brunswick Plant
Map
CountryUnited States
LocationSmithville Township, Brunswick County, North Carolina, near Southport, North Carolina
Coordinates33°57′30″N 78°0′37″W / 33.95833°N 78.01028°W / 33.95833; -78.01028
StatusOperational
Construction beganFebruary 7, 1970 (1970-02-07)
Commission dateUnit 1: March 18, 1977
Unit 2: November 3, 1975
Construction cost$2.490 billion (2007 USD)[1]
OwnerDuke Energy
OperatorDuke Energy
Nuclear power station
Reactor typeBWR
Reactor supplierGeneral Electric
Cooling sourceCape Fear River
Thermal capacity2 × 2923 MWth
Power generation
Units operational1 × 938 MW
1 × 920 MW
Make and modelBWR-4 (Mark 1)
Nameplate capacity1858 MW
Capacity factor94.43% (2017)
75.20% (lifetime)
Annual net output15,468 GWh (2021)
External links
Websitewww.progress-energy.com/aboutenergy/powerplants/nuclearplants/brunswick.asp
CommonsRelated media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata]

The Brunswick nuclear power plant, named for Brunswick County, North Carolina, covers 1,200 acres (490 ha) at 20 feet (6.1 m) above sea level about 5 miles (8.0 km) from the Atlantic Ocean. The site is adjacent to the town of Southport, North Carolina, and to wetlands and woodlands, and was opened in 1975.

The site contains two General Electric boiling water reactors, which are cooled by water collected from the Cape Fear River and discharged into the Atlantic Ocean.

Duke Energy Progress is the majority owner (81.7%) and operator of the Brunswick nuclear plant. The North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency owns the remaining 18.3%. In 2015, Duke Energy completed the process of buying the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency's 18.3% stake at Brunswick nuclear power plant.[2] (Duke Energy completed its merger with Progress Energy on July 2, 2012.)

The Brunswick plants' proximity to the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean allowed the designers to take in cooling water from the Cape Fear river and discharge it into the Atlantic off the coast of Oak Island. Fish, crustaceans, and other debris are removed from the cooling water via a filtration system. The water then flows through the nuclear plant and discharges into a five mile long canal which passes under the Intra-Coastal Waterway at one point.

Electricity Production

Generation (MWh) of Brunswick Nuclear Generating Station[3]
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual (Total)
2001 1,224,090 1,013,268 679,965 1,207,360 1,221,814 1,179,324 1,230,269 1,221,874 1,180,537 1,245,951 1,202,033 1,237,062 13,843,547
2002 1,233,726 1,086,938 636,064 1,009,624 1,227,994 1,212,571 1,268,407 1,265,737 1,032,812 1,272,031 1,246,292 1,285,249 13,777,445
2003 1,246,933 1,149,561 795,256 1,147,713 1,341,718 1,276,883 1,263,844 1,330,636 1,287,825 1,360,809 1,191,314 1,337,028 14,729,520
2004 1,316,899 1,171,955 681,725 1,202,507 1,322,881 1,292,779 1,297,160 1,177,650 1,330,833 1,365,456 1,332,512 1,357,303 14,849,660
2005 1,360,572 1,147,836 777,815 795,196 1,399,227 1,337,338 1,223,158 1,066,070 1,361,501 1,379,973 1,353,048 1,335,014 14,536,748
2006 1,423,237 1,275,351 738,447 1,177,242 1,160,057 1,325,560 1,410,111 1,075,517 1,319,978 1,419,852 938,192 1,278,545 14,542,089
2007 1,415,551 1,290,528 756,316 804,644 1,409,524 1,356,863 1,408,250 1,387,623 990,878 1,417,385 1,374,356 1,410,245 15,022,163
2008 1,418,983 1,312,323 924,848 683,588 1,402,328 1,348,721 1,398,742 1,361,221 1,255,357 1,416,796 944,711 1,417,252 14,884,870
2009 1,415,638 1,234,975 700,536 700,432 1,317,304 1,290,999 1,391,397 1,366,066 894,822 1,337,078 1,364,759 1,415,801 14,429,807
2010 1,383,359 1,076,816 695,926 722,133 1,284,951 1,343,826 1,388,888 1,390,611 1,341,977 1,404,236 1,375,796 1,399,969 14,808,488
2011 1,427,064 1,271,800 795,935 904,534 1,296,846 1,328,592 1,383,727 1,363,929 1,311,936 1,394,296 765,974 1,320,427 14,565,060
2012 1,414,106 1,090,610 698,940 675,003 1,332,657 1,284,773 1,391,780 1,377,275 1,052,185 1,396,690 1,213,942 1,375,114 14,303,075
2013 1,408,972 1,219,629 749,575 691,867 870,832 1,354,633 1,387,564 1,298,135 1,350,268 1,402,335 1,360,704 1,361,254 14,455,768
2014 1,413,134 1,198,964 695,259 1,032,496 1,399,368 1,339,640 1,390,415 1,384,179 1,329,286 1,386,584 1,367,847 1,395,068 15,332,240
2015 1,405,493 1,070,545 713,523 1,224,740 1,394,989 1,329,113 1,390,282 1,385,984 1,339,828 1,407,334 1,232,904 1,393,847 15,288,582
2016 1,368,449 1,004,480 804,947 1,330,114 1,392,806 1,343,781 1,382,543 1,377,432 1,337,730 1,343,847 1,318,096 1,384,522 15,388,747
2017 1,391,630 1,204,675 986,692 847,297 1,376,440 1,326,446 1,383,526 1,376,905 1,336,508 1,395,042 1,358,237 1,386,757 15,370,155
2018 1,346,874 1,120,259 727,984 1,181,261 1,399,406 1,133,808 1,316,720 1,387,369 906,920 1,383,271 1,368,000 1,355,095 14,626,967
2019 1,361,320 1,249,075 653,858 595,650 1,404,967 1,314,015 1,397,585 1,396,042 1,161,163 1,406,580 1,363,766 1,412,735 14,716,756
2020 1,413,655 1,286,568 744,316 1,314,288 1,405,566 1,081,931 1,386,794 942,005 1,294,342 1,369,228 1,355,359 1,412,168 15,006,220
2021 1,404,732 1,253,531 815,304 1,246,906 1,107,340 1,348,094 1,397,354 1,386,221 1,348,649 1,414,835 1,375,125 1,370,769 15,468,860
2022 1,325,054 1,054,029 779,395 1,181,343 1,401,994 1,350,736 1,400,324 1,396,545 1,347,791 1,413,358 1,336,715 1,399,821 15,387,105
2023 1,385,111 786,161 1,148,366 1,268,134 1,411,322 1,356,153 1,394,239 1,395,389 1,338,084 1,403,717 1,354,505 1,416,895 15,658,076
2024 1,422,100 902,886 1,077,404 1,378,376 1,413,178 1,346,963 1,402,684 1,409,272 1,362,969 --

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.[4]

The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Brunswick was 36,413, an increase of 105.3 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 468,953, an increase of 39.6 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Wilmington (18 miles to city center).[5]

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 Brunswick was 1 in 66,667, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.[6][7]

Hurricane Florence

The two reactors at Brunswick were shut down on Thursday, September 13, 2018, prior to tropical storm-force winds from Hurricane Florence impacting the plant. Of the nine nuclear power plants in the path of Hurricane Florence, Brunswick was the only nuclear power plant shutdown.[8][9][10]

Brunswick Energy & Education Center

In 2023, Duke Energy inaugurated the Brunswick Energy & Education Center located at the Brunswick Nuclear Plant. The Education Center is located at 8520 River Road SE, Southport,[11] and "features exhibits on nuclear science, electricity, carbon-free energy and the operation of the Brunswick Nuclear Plant".[12]

The education center offers opportunities for scheduled visitors to learn about nuclear power plants, fuel and nuclear operations in general through demonstrations, movies and career discussions etc.

The Education Center at Brunswick is Duke Energy’s fourth Energy Education Center, with the other three located in Huntersville, New Hill and Seneca, S.C.[13]

References

  1. ^ "EIA - State Nuclear Profiles". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  2. ^ "Duke Energy Progress completes purchase of NCEMPA generation assets". Archived from the original on 2017-02-05. Retrieved 2015-07-31.
  3. ^ "Electricity Data Browser". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
  4. ^ "NRC: Backgrounder on Emergency Preparedness for Nuclear Power Plants". Archived from the original on 2006-10-02. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  5. ^ "Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors". NBC News. 2011-04-14. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
  6. ^ "What are the odds? US nuke plants ranked by quake risk". NBC News. 2011-03-16. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
  7. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-05-25. Retrieved 2011-04-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ Martin, Chris (September 12, 2018). "Hurricane Florence Heads for Duke Energy's Nuclear Reactors". Bloomberg. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  9. ^ "'Threat becomes reality': Hurricane Florence begins days of rain, wind". KPRC. September 13, 2018. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  10. ^ Murawski, John; Specht, Paul A. (September 13, 2018). "Duke Energy starts shutdown of NC nuclear plant as Hurricane Florence nears". News and Observer. Raleigh. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  11. ^ "Duke Energy to open nuclear energy education center in Southport". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  12. ^ "Brunswick Energy & Education Center". Duke Energy. Retrieved 2023-04-24.
  13. ^ "Brunswick Energy & Education Center". Duke Energy. Retrieved 2023-04-24.

Media related to Brunswick Nuclear Generating Station at Wikimedia Commons