Waterford Nuclear Generating Station

Waterford Nuclear Generating Station
Map
Official nameWaterford Steam Electric Station
CountryUnited States
LocationKillona, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana
Coordinates29°59′43″N 90°28′16″W / 29.99528°N 90.47111°W / 29.99528; -90.47111
StatusOperational
Construction beganNovember 14, 1974 (1974-11-14)
Commission dateSeptember 24, 1985
Construction cost$5.476 billion (2007 USD)[1]
OwnerEntergy Louisiana
OperatorEntergy Nuclear
Nuclear power station
Reactor typePWR
Reactor supplierCombustion Engineering
Cooling sourceMississippi River
Thermal capacity1 × 3716 MWth
Power generation
Units operational1 × 1152 MW
Make and modelCE 2-loop (DRYAMB)
Nameplate capacity1152 MW
Capacity factor97.17% (2021)
87.10% (lifetime)
Annual net output9806 GWh (2021)
External links
WebsiteWaterford 3
[edit on Wikidata]

The Waterford Steam Electric Station, Unit 3, also known as Waterford 3, is a nuclear power plant located on a 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) plot in Killona, Louisiana, in St. Charles Parish, about 25 miles (40 km) west of New Orleans.[2]

This plant has one Combustion Engineering two-loop pressurized water reactor. The plant has a maximum dependable capacity of 1,152 megawatts of electricity.[3] The power station's main generator is rated at 1333.2 MVA at a 0.9 power factor (60 psi hydrogen pressure). In 2005, the plant was approved for a 8% (275 MWt) power uprate. The post-uprate nominal main generator output was rated at 1231 MW.[4]

The reactor has a dry ambient pressure containment building.

On August 28, 2005, Waterford shut down due to Hurricane Katrina approaching and declared an unusual event,[5] the least-serious of a four-level emergency classification scale.[6] Shortly after Katrina, Waterford restarted and resumed normal operation.

During the 2011 Mississippi River floods, the plant was shut down briefly after a refueling shutdown on April 6,[7] but was restarted on May 12.[8][9]

The plant shut down on October 17, 2012, for steam-generator replacement. The plant returned to full power in the middle of January 2013.

The plant shut down on August 28, 2021 in preparation for Hurricane Ida. On August 29, 2021 the plant declared an “unusual event″ — its lowest level of emergency — after the facility lost offsite electrical power.[10]

Ownership

Waterford is operated by Entergy Nuclear and is owned by Entergy Louisiana, Inc.[2]

Electricity Production

Generation (MWh) of Waterford Nuclear Generating Station[11]
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual (Total)
2001 825,336 689,268 818,414 791,087 816,595 764,044 807,729 805,583 781,361 819,331 794,604 822,578 9,535,930
2002 821,080 742,181 546,957 297,445 797,447 792,448 808,278 809,052 783,135 821,134 795,559 823,094 8,837,810
2003 824,209 622,223 823,379 793,531 815,749 789,996 813,381 809,434 766,163 399,252 202,766 824,870 8,484,953
2004 824,211 751,332 820,120 797,134 821,172 791,320 812,659 810,523 785,695 820,605 795,478 823,686 9,653,935
2005 823,916 738,692 819,643 418,267 -8,181 490,777 858,075 764,470 465,563 863,302 758,507 874,635 7,867,666
2006 876,778 791,408 874,912 848,394 873,949 837,494 857,255 840,281 825,074 863,264 699,254 81,851 9,269,914
2007 873,838 790,494 874,510 850,120 876,268 846,647 873,150 865,538 842,467 461,856 855,618 882,497 9,893,003
2008 883,274 827,583 882,461 735,144 -9,574 783,968 876,632 870,746 564,011 882,540 856,635 883,703 9,037,123
2009 882,541 797,002 877,283 848,768 869,165 845,074 869,340 868,947 843,897 511,632 -7,361 742,419 8,948,707
2010 878,733 792,936 876,479 848,034 868,299 840,154 866,024 861,372 839,622 876,528 851,894 876,109 10,276,184
2011 876,965 748,164 719,301 109,199 467,479 833,427 866,744 859,437 839,953 877,483 852,153 878,225 8,928,530
2012 838,884 820,221 877,011 828,194 871,386 837,538 862,840 753,773 739,607 440,952 -6,778 -9,670 7,853,958
2013 234,756 786,215 872,247 725,726 792,859 839,435 861,067 855,027 819,910 863,878 845,076 871,555 9,367,751
2014 874,106 787,825 874,522 332,420 296,307 840,791 864,611 862,315 831,458 867,918 847,487 876,576 9,156,336
2015 875,927 786,130 876,019 821,574 862,583 654,977 865,676 861,038 830,419 588,793 -7,857 369,462 8,384,741
2016 878,873 824,731 879,543 851,889 878,962 845,014 856,982 867,242 838,897 664,881 832,346 877,397 10,096,757
2017 879,734 782,888 877,984 392,191 -11,012 695,290 458,451 850,613 846,402 871,269 852,299 881,354 8,377,463
2018 879,165 795,662 880,814 849,658 875,517 842,290 719,900 865,223 840,178 875,033 851,115 878,031 10,152,586
2019 88,257 -2,627 309,583 853,069 468,622 843,033 865,372 670,715 846,007 880,766 854,113 883,492 7,560,402
2020 880,614 823,347 881,611 850,983 877,841 849,663 876,175 874,042 619,652 0 661,862 765,427 8,961,217
2021 880,837 794,556 870,711 733,882 871,277 848,641 873,756 797,085 529,867 876,010 851,332 878,845 9,806,799
2022 878,556 794,426 873,754 26,331 0 134,730 856,601 866,798 837,493 871,252 844,470 874,592 7,859,003
2023 848,502 790,524 719,577 844,051 868,156 838,230 4,909,040

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 Waterford was 75,538, an increase of 7.4 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 1,969,431, a decrease of 0.8 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include New Orleans (33 miles to city center).[13]

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 Waterford was 1 in 50,000, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.[14][15]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "EIA - State Nuclear Profiles". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b Waterford on US Nuclear Power Plants List
  3. ^ "Waterford 3 Steam Electric Station". www.entergy-nuclear.com. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  4. ^ "NRC: Package ML051030082 - Waterford, Unit 3, License Amendment 199 regarding Extended Power Uprate". www.nrc.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  5. ^ "Emergency Classification". NRC Web. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  6. ^ NRC Page on Waterford 3 shutdown prior to Hurricane Katrina
  7. ^ "NRC: Power Reactor Status Report for April 6, 2011". Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Retrieved 2011-05-16.
  8. ^ "NRC: Power Reactor Status Report for May 11, 2011". Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2011-05-16.
  9. ^ "NRC: Power Reactor Status Report for May 13, 2011". Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 2011-05-13. Retrieved 2011-05-16.
  10. ^ "Louisiana nuclear power plant declares 'unusual event' after hurricane; Mississippi's Grand Gulf fully operational". August 30, 2021.
  11. ^ "Electricity Data Browser". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  12. ^ "NRC: Emergency Planning Zones". United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
  13. ^ "Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors". NBC News. 2011-04-14. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
  14. ^ "What are the odds? US nuke plants ranked by quake risk". NBC News. 2011-03-16. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
  15. ^ "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)