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68-502: The station has a single generation II General Electric Boiling Water Reactor . The present reactor operating license was issued April 17, 1987, and will expire September 29, 2026. Plans for a second reactor were shelved. Exelon, the former owner and operator of the present reactor, announced plans to permanently close the power station in June 2017, due to the plants struggles to compete economically in wholesale markets, resulting in

136-511: A Combined Construction and Operating License before construction starts, the validity of which is conditional upon the plant being built as designed, and that each AP1000 should be identical. Its design is the first Generation III+ reactor to receive final design approval from the NRC. In 2008 China started building four units of the AP1000's 2005-design. In December 2011, the NRC approved construction of

204-645: A challenge to the Vogtle license. In May 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). In February 2012, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the two proposed reactors at the Vogtle plant. For VC Summer, a delay of at least one year and extra costs of $ 1.2 billion were announced in October 2014, largely due to fabrication delays. Unit 2

272-494: 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 813,658, an increase of 5.7 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Champaign, Decatur, Bloomington-Normal, as well as portions of Springfield, and the Peoria Metro Area. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to

340-493: A local standardization of the AP1000 design, transitional to the CAP1400 . It is said to have reduced cost and improved operation and maintenance attributes. As of 2021, site preparations have been done for Haiyang , Lufeng , Sanmen , and Xudabao for the construction of eight additional CAP1000 units. However, most of these projects are at a standstill, as construction of all CAP-1000 units has been slowed down significantly. At

408-586: A loss of millions of dollars in recent years. Shutdown plans were cancelled with the passage of Illinois Senate Bill 2814. In December 2016, Illinois voted to subsidize Exelon with 1c/kWh or $ 235 million per year (depending on electricity rates) to keep Clinton and Quad Cities Nuclear Generating Station open for at least 10 years, as natural gas had decreased rates. In October 2022, Constellation announced they are seeking to extend Clinton's operating license to 2047. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants:

476-683: A loss of millions of dollars in recent years. The plans for closure were canceled, however, when the Illinois State Legislature passed and the Illinois Governor signed SB 2814, The Future Energy Jobs Bill. The legislation provides Zero Emission Credits for the plants' CO 2 -free electricity. The consequences of continued operation include saving 4,200 jobs and the annual generation of 22 billion kWhs of CO 2 -free energy. The surrounding 14,300 acres (58 km) site and adjacent 5,000 acres (20 km) cooling reservoir, Clinton Lake ,

544-430: A minority shareholder ( Santee Cooper ). Santee Cooper's board voted to cease all construction resulting in termination of the entire project. All four reactors were identical and the two projects ran in parallel, with the first two reactors (Vogtle 3 and Summer 2) planned to be commissioned in 2019 and the remaining two (Vogtle 4 and Summer 3) in 2020. After Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy protection on March 29, 2017,

612-419: 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. The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Clinton was 14,677, a decrease of 0.4 percent in

680-569: A useful radiation source. The vast majority of the world's cobalt-60 supply - over 80% - has traditionally come from Canada's National Research Universal (NRU) reactor at Chalk River. In general, the supply situation for medical and industrial isotopes is shaky thanks to a reliance on this kind of aging research reactor. Clinton will be the only light water reactor currently producing cobalt-60. Exelon Nuclear president Charles Pardee said: "We view this as an opportunity for Exelon to support an important medical technology that saves people's lives." It

748-483: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . AP1000 The AP1000 is a nuclear power plant designed and sold by Westinghouse Electric Company . The plant is a pressurized water reactor with improved use of passive nuclear safety and many design features intended to lower its capital cost and improve its economics. The design traces its history to the Westinghouse 4-loop SNUPPS design, which

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816-409: Is activated, the water flows by gravity to the top of the reactor where it evaporates to remove heat. The system uses multiple explosively-operated and DC operated valves which must operate within the first 30 minutes. This is designed to happen even if the reactor operators take no action. The electrical system required for initiating the passive systems doesn't rely on external or diesel power and

884-449: Is currently developing more advanced versions and owns their patent rights. The first AP1000 began operations in China at Sanmen, where Unit 1 became the first AP1000 to achieve criticality in June 2018, and was connected to the grid the next month. Further builds in China will be based on the modified CAP1000 and CAP1400 designs. The AP1000 design traces its history to two previous designs,

952-470: Is needed in generators containing Mo-99. As Mo-99 itself has a half-life of only 66 hours, the world needs reliable, steady supplies of the isotope, most of which is made by irradiating uranium-235 targets inside a research reactor. Most of the world's Mo-99 comes from only five research reactors: Canada's NRU, the Netherlands' HFR, Belgium's BR-2, France's Osiris and South Africa's Safari-1. Issues at some of

1020-498: Is owned by the operator, but hosts the Clinton Lake State Recreation Area and is open to public for a large range of outdoor activities. Only around 150 acres (0.6 km) are actually used by the plant's buildings and operation areas. There were a number of problems during the first several years of operation. For example, the facility was down for maintenance frequently and was out of service for almost half of

1088-515: Is three-and-a-half to five times thicker than the liners used in current designs, and that corrosion would be readily apparent during routine inspection. Edwin Lyman , a senior staff scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists , has challenged specific cost-saving design choices made for both the AP1000 and ESBWR , another new design. Lyman is concerned about the strength of the steel containment vessel and

1156-418: Is used for a variety of medical and industrial purposes including cancer therapy, sterilization of medical equipment, food irradiation and materials testing. It is produced by inserting a 'target' rod rich in non-radioactive cobalt-59 into a reactor core where free neutrons will be captured, turning cobalt-59 into cobalt-60. After retrieval from the core, processing can extract the cobalt-60 for manufacture into

1224-495: The AP600 and the System 80 . The System 80 design was created by Combustion Engineering and featured a two-loop cooling system with a single steam generator paired with two reactor coolant pumps in each loop that makes it simpler and less expensive than systems which pair a single reactor coolant pump with a steam generator in each of two, three, or four loops. Three completed reactors in

1292-495: The Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Generating Station (Units 2 & 3). The project was abandoned in July 2017, 4 years after it began, due to Westinghouse's recent bankruptcy, major cost overruns, significant delays, and other issues. The project's primary shareholder ( SCANA ) initially favored a plan to abandon development of Unit 3, while completing Unit 2. The plan was dependent on approval of

1360-893: The Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in the US, with Vogtle 3 having come online in July 2023, and Vogtle 4 in April 2024. Construction at Vogtle suffered numerous delays and cost overruns at Vogtle and V.C. Summer led to Westinghouse's bankruptcy in 2017. Construction of the two reactors at the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Generating Station was cancelled in 2017 following Westinghouse's bankruptcy. Nineteen more AP1000s are currently being planned, with 6 in India, 9 in Ukraine, 3 in Poland, and 1 in Bulgaria. China

1428-596: The Xudabao site, construction of two VVER-1200 units for Xudabao 3 & 4 was started in 2021 while the planned CAP1000 units for phase 1 & 2 are still on hold. On 20 April 2022, the construction of Haiyang 3 & 4 and Sanmen 3 & 4 was approved by the State Council. However, Lufeng 5, using a Hualong One unit, was decided to be built first instead of the CAP1000 units for Lufeng 1-4 which had already been approved by

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1496-535: The 1990s, Westinghouse had been working on a new design known as the AP600 with a design power of about 600 MWe. This was part of the United States Department of Energy’s Advanced Light Water Reactor program that worked on a series of Generation III reactor designs. In contrast to Generation II designs, the AP600 was much simpler, with a huge reduction in the total number of parts, and especially pumps. It

1564-486: The AP1000 buildings concrete walls in steel plates. Last year Ma, a member of the NRC since it was formed in 1974, filed the first "non-concurrence" dissent of his career after the NRC granted the design approval. In it Ma argues that some parts of the steel skin are so brittle that the "impact energy" from a plane strike or storm driven projectile could shatter the wall. A team of engineering experts hired by Westinghouse disagreed... In 2010, following Ma's initial concerns,

1632-509: The AP1000's safety is enhanced by fewer active components, not compromised as Ms. Vancko suggests. As in direct contrast to currently operating reactors, the AP1000 has been designed around the concept of passive nuclear safety . In October 2013, Li Yulun, a former vice-president of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), raised concerns over the safety standards of the delayed AP1000 third-generation nuclear power plant being built in Sanmen, due to

1700-525: The AP600. With the purchase of the company by BNFL and its merger with ABB, a design combining the features of the System 80+ with the AP600 started as the AP1000. BNFL in turn sold Westinghouse Electric to Toshiba in 2005. In December 2005, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved the final design certification for the AP1000. This meant that prospective US builders could apply for

1768-601: The Chinese State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) and other institutes to develop a larger design, the CAP1400 of 1,400 MW e capacity, possibly followed by a 1,700 MW e design. China will own the patent rights for these larger designs. Exporting the new larger units may be possible with Westinghouse's cooperation. In September 2014, the Chinese nuclear regulator approved

1836-432: The NRC questioned the durability of the AP1000 reactor's original shield building in the face of severe external events such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and airplane collisions. In response to these concerns Westinghouse prepared a modified design. This modified design satisfied the NRC, with the exception of Ma, hence the "non-concurrence". In contrast to the NRC's decision, Ma believed that the computer codes used to analyze

1904-699: The NRC. The report concluded that certification of the AP1000 should be delayed until the original and current "unanswered safety questions" raised by the AP1000 Oversight Group are resolved. In 2012, Ellen Vancko, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that "the Westinghouse AP1000 has a weaker containment, less redundancy in safety systems, and fewer safety features than current reactors". In response to Ms. Vancko's concerns, climate policies author and retired nuclear engineer Zvi J. Doron, replied that

1972-564: The National Development and Reform Commission. On 14 September 2022, the State Council approved construction of Lianjiang 1 & 2. In October 2015 it was announced that technology for the İğneada Nuclear Power Plant in Turkey will come from US based firm Westinghouse Electric Company in the form of two AP1000 and two CAP1400 . In 2016, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of

2040-734: The Republic of Turkey , Berat Albayrak , inspected the AP 1000 Shangdong Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant, which belongs to the China National State Nuclear Technology Corporation ( SNPTC ), a subsidiary of the China State Electricity Investment Corporation (SPIC). [2] Two reactors have been brought online at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in the state of Georgia (Units 3 & 4). In South Carolina , two units were being constructed at

2108-512: The US and another four in South Korea made it the most successful Generation II+ design. ABB Group bought Combustion Engineering in 1990 and introduced the System 80+, with a number of design changes and safety improvements. As part of a series of mergers, purchases, and divestitures by ABB, in 2000 the design was purchased by Westinghouse Electric Company , who had itself been purchased in 1999 by British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL). Through

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2176-474: The amount of large diameter primary loop piping. Revision 15 of the AP1000 design has an unusual containment structure which has received approval by the NRC, after a Safety Evaluation Report, and a Design Certification Rule. Revisions 17, 18, and 19 were also approved. In April 2010, some environmental organizations called on the NRC to investigate possible limitations in the AP1000 reactor design. These groups appealed to three federal agencies to suspend

2244-530: The approval process leading to construction and operation of an additional power reactor at the site. According to the ESP, the new plant design will be of the AP1000 type, although the ESP does not state what gross wattage has been selected. In June 2016, plans for the second reactor were shelved, and reactor 1 was to be shut down in June 2017. The plant was struggling to compete in wholesale electricity markets, resulting in

2312-605: The commission was asking Westinghouse not only to fix its calculations but also to explain why it submitted flawed information in the first place. Westinghouse said that the items the commission was asking for were not "safety significant". In November 2011, Arnold Gundersen published a further report on behalf of the AP1000 Oversight Group , which includes Friends of the Earth and Mothers against Tennessee River Radiation. The report highlighted six areas of major concern and unreviewed safety questions requiring immediate technical review by

2380-439: The concrete shield building around the AP1000, claiming its containment vessel does not have sufficient safety margins. John Ma, a senior structural engineer at the NRC was quoted on his stance about the AP1000 nuclear reactor. In 2009, the NRC made a safety change related to the events of September 11, ruling that all plants be designed to withstand the direct hit from a plane. To meet the new requirement, Westinghouse encased

2448-435: The constantly changing, and consequently untested, design. Citing a lack of operating history, he also questioned the manufacturer's assertion that the AP1000 reactor's "primary system canned motor pumps" were "maintenance-free" over 60 years, the assumed life of the reactor and noted that the expansion from 600 to 1,000 megawatts has not yet been commercially proven. In 2008 and 2009, Westinghouse made agreements to work with

2516-561: The construction has stalled. On April 9, 2008, Georgia Power Company reached a contract agreement with Westinghouse and Shaw for two AP1000 reactors to be built at Vogtle. The contract represents the first agreement for new nuclear development since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. The license request for the Vogtle site is based on revision 18 of the AP1000 design. On February 16, 2010, President Obama announced $ 8.33 billion in federal loan guarantees to construct

2584-435: The country including Florida , Ohio , Minnesota , Wisconsin , Pennsylvania , Maryland , Michigan , and more. In 2018 there were 34 teams registered from 8 states. [REDACTED] Media related to Clinton Nuclear Generating Station at Wikimedia Commons Generation II reactor A generation II reactor is a design classification for a nuclear reactor , and refers to the class of commercial reactors built until

2652-415: The design of the shield building of the new reactors. The chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said that: computations submitted by Westinghouse about the building's design appeared to be wrong and "had led to more questions."; the company had not used a range of possible temperatures for calculating potential seismic stresses on the shield building in the event of, for example, an earthquake; and that

2720-483: The design re-emerged as the AP1000 and found a number of design wins at this larger size. Twelve AP1000s are currently in operation or under construction. Four are in operation at two sites in China , two at Sanmen Nuclear Power Station and two at Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant . As of 2019 , all four Chinese reactors were completed and connected to the grid, and as of 2024, 6 more are under construction. Two are in operation at

2788-470: The design safety analysis following a 17-month review. In May 2015 the CAP1400 design passed an International Atomic Energy Agency 's Generic Reactor Safety Review. In December 2009, a Chinese joint venture was set up to build an initial CAP1400 near the HTR-PM at Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Plant . In 2015, site preparation started, and approval to progress was expected by the end of the year. In March 2017,

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2856-448: The design without a strengthened containment structure to provide improved protection against an aircraft crash. China had officially adopted the AP1000 as a standard for inland nuclear projects. Following Westinghouse's bankruptcy in 2017, China decided in 2019 to build the domestically designed Hualong One rather than the AP1000 at Zhangzhou . After 2019, all plans for future AP1000 units were superseded by CAP1000 units, which are

2924-533: The end of 2015. The nomenclature for reactor designs, describing four 'generations', was proposed by the US Department of Energy when it introduced the concept of generation IV reactors . The designation generation II+ reactor is sometimes used for modernized generation II designs built post-2000, such as the Chinese CPR-1000 , in competition with more expensive generation III reactor designs. Typically,

2992-492: The end of the 1990s. Prototypical and older versions of PWR , CANDU , BWR , AGR , RBMK and VVER are among them. These are contrasted to generation I reactors, which refer to the early prototype of power reactors, such as Shippingport , Magnox / UNGG , AMB , Fermi 1 , and Dresden 1 . The last commercial Gen I power reactor was located at the Wylfa Nuclear Power Station and ceased operation at

3060-773: The first CAP1400 reactor pressure vessel passed pressure tests. Equipment for the CAP1400 is being manufactured, and as of 2020 preliminary construction is underway. In February 2019, the Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research & Design Institute announced that it had begun the conceptual design process for the CAP1700. Four AP1000 reactors have been constructed in China, two at Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant in Zhejiang , and two at Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant in Shandong . The Sanmen 1 & 2 AP1000s were connected to

3128-656: The first US plant to use the design. On February 9, 2012, the NRC approved the construction of two new reactors. In 2016 and 2017 cost overruns constructing AP1000 plants in the U.S. caused Westinghouse's owner Toshiba to write down its investment in Westinghouse by "several billion" dollars. On February 14, 2017, Toshiba delayed filing financial results, and Toshiba chairman Shigenori Shiga, formerly chairman of Westinghouse, resigned. On March 24, 2017, Toshiba announced that Westinghouse Electric Company will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because of US$ 9 billion of losses from nuclear reactor construction projects, which may impact

3196-628: The future of the AP1000. Westinghouse emerged from bankruptcy in August 2018. The AP1000 is a pressurized water reactor with two cooling loops, planned to produce a net power output of 1,117  MW e . It is an evolutionary improvement on the AP600 , essentially a more powerful model with roughly the same footprint. A design objective was to be less expensive to build than other Generation III reactor designs, by both using existing technology, and needing less equipment than competing designs that have three or four cooling loops. The design decreases

3264-406: The grid on July 2, 2018, and August 24, 2018, respectively. Haiyang 1 started commercial operation on October 22, 2018, and Haiyang 2 on January 9, 2019. In 2014, China First Heavy Industries manufactured the first domestically produced AP1000 reactor pressure vessel, for the second AP1000 unit of Sanmen Nuclear Power Station . The first four AP1000s to be built are to an earlier revision of

3332-456: The licensing of the two new AP1000 reactors to be built at Vogtle filed a new petition in April 2011 asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's commission to suspend the licensing process until more is known about the evolving Fukushima I nuclear accidents . In February 2012, nine environmental groups filed a collective challenge to the certification of the Vogtle reactor design and in March they filed

3400-411: The licensing process because they believed containment in the new design is weaker than existing reactors. In April 2010, Arnold Gundersen , a nuclear engineer commissioned by several anti-nuclear groups, released a report which explored a hazard associated with the possible rusting through of the containment structure steel liner. In the AP1000 design, the liner and the concrete are separated, and if

3468-568: The modernization includes improved safety systems and a 60-year design life. Generation II reactor designs generally had an original design life of 30 or 40 years. This date was set as the period over which loans taken out for the plant would be paid off. However, many generation II reactors are being life-extended to 50 or 60 years, and a second life-extension to 80 years may also be economical in many cases. By 2013 about 75% of still operating U.S. reactors had been granted life extension licenses to 60 years. Chernobyl 's No.4 reactor that exploded

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3536-514: The modified design were not precise enough and some of the materials used were too brittle. A US consultant engineer has also criticized the AP1000 containment design arguing that, in the case of a design-basis accident , it could release radiation; Westinghouse has denied the claim. The NRC completed the overall design certification review for the amended AP1000 in September 2011. In May 2011, US government regulators found additional problems with

3604-439: The newly deregulated market, they kept it shut down during around 3 years whilst looking for an interested buyer. Exelon Corporation bought it for a more modest price of $ 40 million, with the purchase including the fuel in the reactor vessel and responsibility of all the radioactive waste in the spent fuel storage pool. The Operator and Owner is Constellation Energy following its spin-off from Exelon. Soon after acquiring

3672-457: The number of components, including pipes, wires, and valves. Standardization and type-licensing should also help reduce the time and cost of construction. Because of its simplified design compared to a Westinghouse generation II PWR, the AP1000 has: The AP1000 design is considerably more compact in land usage than most existing PWRs, and uses under a fifth of the concrete and rebar reinforcing of older designs. Probabilistic risk assessment

3740-513: The power plant, Exelon made in 2001 a request to uprate its power by 20%, from 2894 MWt to 3473 MWt, resulting in an increase of 193 MWe, the largest approved by the NRC until 2012. In January 2010, GE-Hitachi announced that the station will begin producing cobalt-60 . The technology is soon to be installed at the Clinton boiling water reactor during Clinton's planned maintenance and refueling outage in order to produce cobalt-60. The radioactive isotope

3808-580: The reactor at Clinton was 1 in 400,000, according to an NRC study published in August 2010. Inspired by the nearby power station, Clinton radio station WHOW changed its motto to "WHOW, your radio active station" in April 1989. Inspired by the fact that Clinton Lake was created to provide cooling for the nuclear power station the Clinton Lake Sailing Association hosts a popular annual Midwestern regatta known as The Glow In The Dark Regatta. This regatta attracts sailboat racers from all over

3876-399: The reactors in recent years have led to worldwide problems with the supply of this vital isotope. In September 2003, Exelon submitted an Early Site Permit to place a second reactor at the Clinton site — this was approved March 15, 2007. The Early Site Permit does not actually grant any type of license to begin building a second reactor, although it offers the operator an avenue to begin

3944-418: The same manner as the currently operating fleet of US power reactors. Power reactors of all types continue to produce heat from radioactive decay products even after the main reaction is shut down, so it is necessary to remove this heat to avoid meltdown of the reactor core. In the AP1000, Westinghouse's Passive Core Cooling System uses a tank of water situated above the reactor. When the passive cooling system

4012-435: The steel rusts through, "there is no backup containment behind it" according to Gundersen. If the dome rusted through the design would expel radioactive contaminants and the plant "could deliver a dose of radiation to the public that is 10 times higher than the N.R.C. limit" according to Gundersen. Vaughn Gilbert, a spokesman for Westinghouse, has disputed Gundersen's assessment, stating that the AP1000's steel containment vessel

4080-434: The time from September 1988 to October 1989. In 1997, it was also said to be producing "some of the highest electric rates in the midwest". After less than a decade of operation the plant's original owner, Illinois Power, had to close it in 1996 following some technical problems and safety violations resulting in a $ 450,000 fine. Having deduced that it was not economical to own and operate only one nuclear generating station in

4148-408: The two AP1000 units at the Vogtle plant. The cost of building the two reactors was projected to be $ 14 billion, but has since increased to $ 30B with only one reactor online and the second remaining under construction. Georgia Power, which owns 45.7% of Vogtle, delayed the projected in-service dates to the fourth quarter of 2023, or first quarter of 2024, for Unit 4. Environmental groups opposed to

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4216-403: The valves don't rely on hydraulic or compressed air systems. The design is intended to passively remove heat for 72 hours, after which its gravity drain water tank must be topped up for as long as cooling is required. The reactor uses canned motor pumps that are hermetically sealed, use no reactor coolant pump seals and are mounted directly on the bottom of the steam generators. This reduces

4284-606: Was a generation II reactor, specifically RBMK-1000 . Fukushima Daiichi 's three destroyed reactors were generation II reactors; specifically Mark I Boiling water reactors (BWR) designed by General Electric . In 2016, unit 2 at the Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station came online and is likely to be the last generation II reactor to become operational in the United States . This article about nuclear power and nuclear reactors for power generation

4352-666: Was also passively safe, a key feature of Gen III designs. The AP600 was at the small end of the reactor scale. Smaller plants are periodically introduced because they can be used in a wider variety of markets where a larger reactor is simply too powerful to serve the local market. The downside of such designs is that the construction time, and thus cost, does not differ significantly compared to larger designs, so these smaller designs often have less attractive economics. The AP600 addressed this through modular construction and aimed to go from first concrete to fuel load in 36 months. In spite of these attractive features, Westinghouse had no sales of

4420-411: Was announced in September 2011 that GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy and Exelon commissioned a feasibility study into creating Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) at the reactor. Mo-99 decays to produce technetium-99m (Tc-99m) that is used in around 50 million medical diagnostic imaging procedures every year. With a half-life of only six hours, Tc-99m is too short-lived to be transported to hospitals so is produced where it

4488-442: Was produced in various locations around the world. (Note: System 80 was a similar vintage nuclear steam supply system made by Combustion Engineering). Further development of the 4-loop reactor and the ice-condenser containment initially led to the AP600 concept, with a smaller 600 to 700 MWe output, but this saw limited interest. In order to compete with other designs that were scaling up in size in order to improve capital costs ,

4556-466: Was then expected to be substantially complete in late 2018 or early 2019, with unit 3 about a year later. In October 2013, US energy secretary Ernest Moniz announced that China was to supply components to the US nuclear power plants under construction as part of a bilateral co-operation agreement between the two countries. Since China's State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) acquired Westinghouses's AP1000 technology in 2006, it has developed

4624-482: Was used in the design of the plants. This enabled minimization of risks, and calculation of the overall safety of the plant. According to the NRC, the plants will be orders of magnitude safer than those in the last study, NUREG-1150 . The AP1000 has a maximum core damage frequency of 5.09 × 10 per plant per year. Used fuel produced by the AP1000 can be stored indefinitely in water on the plant site. Aged used fuel may also be stored in above-ground dry cask storage , in

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