Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station

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 Energy Harbor and power is generated by two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors. As of 2023, it is the fourth largest employer in Beaver County.[2]

Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station
Aerial photograph of the power plant
CountryUnited States
LocationShippingport, Beaver County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40°37′24″N 80°25′50″W
StatusOperational
Construction beganUnit 1: June 26, 1970
Unit 2: May 3, 1974
Commission dateUnit 1: October 1, 1976
Unit 2: November 17, 1987
Construction cost$8.520 billion (2007 USD)[1]
Owner(s)Energy Harbor
Operator(s)Energy Harbor
Nuclear power station
Reactor typePWR
Reactor supplierWestinghouse
Cooling towers2 × Natural Draft
Cooling sourceOhio River
Thermal capacity2 × 2900 MWth
Power generation
Units operational1 × 980 MWe
1 × 960 MWe
Make and modelWH 3-loop (DRYSUB)
Nameplate capacity1826 MW
Capacity factor95.73% (2017)
80.25% (lifetime)
Annual net output14,381 GWh (2021)
External links
WebsiteBeaver Valley
CommonsRelated media on Commons

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
  1. "EIA – State Nuclear Profiles". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  2. "Top 50 Employers, Beaver County, 2nd Quarter 2023" (PDF).
  3. "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.
  4. Corp, Vistra. "Vistra Announces Acquisition of Energy Harbor – Vistra Corp Legislative Hub". Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  5. "NRC: Emergency Planning Zones". United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
  6. Bill Dedman, Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors, NBC News, April 14, 2011 http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42555888 Accessed May 1, 2011.
  7. Bill Dedman, "What are the odds? US nuke plants ranked by quake risk," NBC News, March 17, 2011 http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42103936 Accessed April 19, 2011.
  8. "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)
  9. 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"
  10. "Electricity Data Browser". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
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