Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station
Nuclear power plant located near Shippingport, Pennsylvania
Beaver Valley Power Station is a nuclear power plant on the Ohio River covering 1,000 acres (400 ha) near Shippingport , Pennsylvania , United States , 27 miles (43 km) roughly northwest of Pittsburgh . The plant is operated by Vistra Corp and power is generated by two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors . As of 2023, it is the fourth largest employer in Beaver County. [2]
In 2018, previous owner FirstEnergy Solutions filed for bankruptcy and announced the plant would begin deactivation by 2021. However, upon emergence from bankruptcy in 2020 as new owner Energy Harbor, the shutdown of the plant was reversed largely due to then Governor Tom Wolf's decision to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative .[3]
In 2023, it was announced that parent company Energy Harbor will be acquired by retail electricity and power generation company Vistra Corp , who is based in Irving, TX.[4]
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.[5]
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Beaver Valley was 114,514, a decrease of 6.6 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 3,140,766, a decrease of 3.7 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Pittsburgh (27 miles away, located upriver from the station).[6]
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 Beaver Valley was Reactor 1: 1 in 20,833; Reactor 2: 1 in 45,455, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.[7] [8]
Fessenheim
Beaver Valley 1 was used as the reference design for the French nuclear plant at Fessenheim .[9]
Electricity Production
Generation ( MWh ) of Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station [10]
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Annual (Total)
2001
1,231,013
1,102,516
1,166,836
950,419
1,233,917
1,121,462
1,217,758
1,198,702
591,649
1,025,347
1,142,673
1,196,944
13,179,236
2002
1,251,304
608,240
1,153,187
1,145,473
1,184,805
1,192,272
1,221,348
1,225,802
1,154,533
1,249,381
965,672
1,242,688
13,594,705
2003
1,255,979
1,055,681
697,138
603,373
1,170,240
1,166,613
1,236,025
1,231,773
827,308
934,518
1,176,607
1,263,843
12,619,098
2004
1,251,657
1,177,942
1,220,378
1,188,612
1,225,320
1,201,024
1,220,772
1,235,005
1,195,867
952,187
864,397
1,260,218
13,993,379
2005
1,255,576
1,090,158
1,199,215
668,912
1,207,987
1,191,284
1,219,273
1,223,496
1,194,150
1,248,452
1,213,007
1,258,802
13,970,312
2006
1,254,947
792,833
624,592
697,832
1,186,048
1,191,446
1,220,324
1,113,204
1,172,583
653,918
944,844
1,282,740
12,135,311
2007
1,285,853
1,154,054
1,261,440
1,279,576
1,308,772
1,224,796
1,300,702
1,281,551
1,075,003
757,142
1,281,442
1,330,533
14,540,864
2008
1,328,381
1,211,375
1,313,801
911,269
792,501
1,284,269
1,326,577
1,333,679
1,256,559
1,245,861
1,310,912
1,355,952
14,671,136
2009
1,357,886
1,216,023
1,354,586
1,037,877
861,301
1,294,649
1,335,155
1,322,102
1,297,394
900,693
689,664
1,344,115
14,011,445
2010
1,357,353
1,225,085
1,353,752
1,247,013
1,345,076
1,290,446
1,326,140
1,311,559
1,294,561
678,679
1,215,321
1,348,579
14,993,564
2011
1,358,220
1,223,500
794,430
945,182
1,380,844
1,292,883
1,322,972
1,333,629
1,297,709
1,353,637
1,314,586
1,359,030
14,976,622
2012
1,359,448
1,272,132
1,344,520
808,692
1,161,799
1,292,939
1,268,412
1,329,804
1,110,623
671,637
1,262,546
1,377,604
14,260,156
2013
1,375,394
1,178,630
1,377,800
1,322,946
1,269,906
1,100,118
1,342,437
1,348,437
1,262,925
685,882
1,116,453
1,398,375
14,779,303
2014
844,865
1,243,056
1,395,377
1,047,970
844,775
1,321,456
1,364,524
1,364,878
1,328,888
1,252,314
1,351,231
1,397,972
14,757,306
2015
1,398,293
1,261,672
1,391,529
1,037,656
829,260
1,269,925
1,364,082
1,366,499
1,174,970
703,561
1,346,473
1,393,852
14,537,772
2016
1,397,675
1,094,983
1,389,378
1,344,236
1,377,025
1,299,133
1,345,488
1,347,302
1,072,007
805,867
1,349,777
1,396,703
15,219,574
2017
1,394,300
1,257,282
1,381,341
1,064,573
899,597
1,314,750
1,349,908
1,357,233
1,320,533
1,373,254
1,207,854
1,390,882
15,311,507
2018
1,381,756
1,252,602
1,380,710
949,395
1,132,138
1,290,425
1,260,796
1,254,216
1,294,648
1,049,057
1,014,319
1,393,394
14,653,456
2019
1,393,366
1,256,203
1,380,532
1,320,761
1,366,244
1,306,762
1,344,244
1,353,568
1,257,007
874,858
1,210,506
1,392,419
15,456,470
2020
1,391,732
1,302,673
1,340,253
857,986
1,206,458
1,310,120
1,208,593
1,363,603
1,313,674
1,372,307
1,338,512
1,387,482
15,393,393
2021
1,391,329
1,254,453
1,374,763
862,925
1,075,609
1,300,647
1,352,121
1,348,384
1,308,693
781,423
949,760
1,381,289
14,381,396
2022
1,387,928
1,252,103
1,379,442
1,333,966
1,360,796
955,857
1,320,353
1,348,094
1,314,936
845,831
862,952
1,387,769
14,750,027
2023
1,387,043
1,251,449
1,370,780
831,678
849,294
1,318,244
1,350,951
1,355,943
1,229,198
1,337,087
1,343,339
13,625,006
See also
References
^ "EIA – State Nuclear Profiles" . www.eia.gov . Retrieved 3 October 2017 .
^ "Top 50 Employers, Beaver County, 2nd Quarter 2023" (PDF) .
^ "Owners of Pa.'s Beaver Valley nuclear power station will keep it open because of state's climate plan" . StateImpact Pennsylvania . 2020-03-13. Retrieved 2024-01-28 .
^ Corp, Vistra. "Vistra Announces Acquisition of Energy Harbor – Vistra Corp Legislative Hub" . Retrieved 2024-01-28 .
^ "NRC: Emergency Planning Zones" . United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission . Retrieved 2019-12-22 .
^ Bill Dedman , Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors, NBC News , April 14, 2011 https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna42555888 Accessed May 1, 2011.
^ Bill Dedman , "What are the odds? US nuke plants ranked by quake risk," NBC News , March 17, 2011 https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna42103936 Accessed April 19, 2011.
^ "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 )
^ Thèse, publiée sur internet, de FOASSO Cyrille (Université Lumière Lyon2 - 2003) "Histoire de la sûreté de l'énergie nucléaire civile en France (1945–2000)" Le concept de centrale de référence : assurer les conditions d'un transfert de technologie optimum - "Dans cet apprentissage de la technologie des réacteurs à eau légère, EDF s'appuie sur le concept dit de «centrale de référence», adopté pour suppléer à son manque de connaissances en profondeur de ce type de réacteurs. Le concept de centrale de référence marque une étape fondamentale dans l'opération de transfert de technologie depuis les Etats-Unis vers la France. " "pour Fessenheim c'est la centrale de Beaver Valley qui est choisie comme référence "
^ "Electricity Data Browser" . www.eia.gov . Retrieved 2024-01-28 .
External links
NRC Region I(Northeast) NRC Region II(South) NRC Region III(Midwest) NRC Region IV(West) Converted Closed Cancelled (incomplete list, whole plants only) Future