Callaway Nuclear Generating Station
1 × 1600 MW US EPR
87.70% (lifetime)
The Callaway Plant is a nuclear power plant located in Callaway County, Missouri. The plant is Missouri's only nuclear power plant and is close to Fulton, Missouri.[2] The 2,767 acres (1,120 ha) site began operations on December 19, 1984. It generates electricity from one 1,190-megawatt Westinghouse four-loop pressurized water reactor and a General Electric turbine-generator. The Ameren Corporation owns and operates the plant through its subsidiary Ameren Missouri. It is one of several Westinghouse reactors designs called the "Standard Nuclear Unit Power Plant System," or SNUPPS.[3]
The plant produces 1,279 electrical megawatts (MWe) of net power.[4] As of 2019, Callaway has completed five "breaker-to-breaker" runs — operating from one refueling to the next without ever being out of service. It is one of only 26 U.S. reactors to achieve such a feat according to Ameren.[5]
History
On November 19, 2005, its workers finished replacing all four steam generators in 63 days, 13 hours, a world record for a four-loop plant.[6]
In 2014, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission tests found contaminated ground water near the site.[7]
The plant experienced three unplanned shutdowns in 2020. On December 24, 2020, an electric fault on the non-safety main generator caused an extensive outage requiring the replacement of significant components. The components were replaced, inspected, and tested during subsequent months.[8][9] According to NRC inspection reports, on August 2, 2021, the reactor was restarted. Two days later on August 4, 2021, the main turbine generator was synchronized with the electrical grid and on August 8, the plant reached rated thermal power.[10][11]
According to Ameren, Callaway accounted for 23% of the utility's generation mix in 2022.[12]
Proposed Unit 2 and cancellation
On July 28, 2008, Ameren Missouri applied to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a Combined Construction and Operating License (COL) to build a 1,600-MW Areva Evolutionary Power Reactor.[13] Ameren sought to construct this second reactor in order to meet their projected increase in demand for electricity over the next decade.[14]
In April 2009, the proposal was cancelled. One stumbling block was a law that forbids utilities to charge customers for the interest accrued on a construction loan before a new plant produces electricity. The new nuclear reactor would have cost at least $6 billion.[15][16]
In April 2012, Ameren Missouri and Westinghouse Electric Company announced their intent to seek federal funding for a new generation of nuclear reactors to be installed at the Callaway site. The U.S. Department of Energy could provide up to $452 million in research and development funds to Westinghouse. The new reactors would be smaller and, the companies claimed, safer in design than any currently operating. Ameren Missouri was to apply to license up five of the 225-megawatt reactors at the Callaway site, more than doubling its current electrical output.[17]
In August 2015, a month after Ameren had announced plans to build solar energy plants in Missouri,[18] all plans to expand nuclear-powered electricity generation at the site were scrapped.[19]
Electricity production
Year | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Annual (Total) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | 864,162 | 778,452 | 698,802 | 112,310 | 170,080 | 818,314 | 841,436 | 843,774 | 823,728 | 858,914 | 832,611 | 741,657 | 8,384,240 |
2002 | 847,236 | 334,598 | 844,638 | 828,117 | 823,474 | 816,017 | 838,569 | 840,751 | 819,190 | 588,220 | 67,577 | 741,242 | 8,389,629 |
2003 | 872,905 | 784,805 | 584,814 | 773,625 | 863,342 | 831,288 | 851,080 | 851,040 | 829,346 | 749,941 | 835,235 | 872,168 | 9,699,589 |
2004 | 818,598 | 377,137 | 869,077 | 228,218 | -11,505 | 410,640 | 860,440 | 859,831 | 835,856 | 868,542 | 839,923 | 873,936 | 7,830,693 |
2005 | 800,781 | 787,769 | 699,479 | 773,972 | 864,248 | 757,093 | 852,463 | 853,734 | 436,542 | -5,959 | 292,891 | 917,564 | 8,030,577 |
2006 | 916,311 | 831,307 | 917,371 | 879,982 | 430,989 | 766,219 | 888,413 | 891,120 | 878,572 | 911,654 | 885,967 | 918,755 | 10,116,660 |
2007 | 921,372 | 832,148 | 773,355 | 17,380 | 592,863 | 866,741 | 894,646 | 888,978 | 869,464 | 906,068 | 888,687 | 920,253 | 9,371,955 |
2008 | 919,838 | 861,555 | 897,258 | 880,210 | 904,505 | 861,545 | 878,976 | 889,454 | 869,370 | 281,840 | 579,384 | 554,694 | 9,378,629 |
2009 | 928,441 | 535,798 | 826,689 | 796,254 | 909,950 | 836,422 | 898,752 | 899,588 | 878,322 | 918,753 | 891,471 | 926,676 | 10,247,116 |
2010 | 927,876 | 836,896 | 918,163 | 464,014 | -15,004 | 490,633 | 889,828 | 890,830 | 872,584 | 908,084 | 889,371 | 922,758 | 8,996,033 |
2011 | 897,729 | 830,541 | 913,563 | 882,535 | 905,823 | 865,617 | 885,426 | 891,052 | 856,251 | 405,064 | 115,685 | 922,037 | 9,371,323 |
2012 | 921,614 | 861,869 | 911,230 | 875,067 | 901,235 | 867,320 | 887,705 | 896,292 | 874,142 | 911,923 | 889,995 | 919,937 | 10,718,329 |
2013 | 922,003 | 833,927 | 894,008 | 173,068 | 34,149 | 869,706 | 719,609 | 320,343 | 872,034 | 912,338 | 892,149 | 923,769 | 8,367,103 |
2014 | 924,177 | 834,469 | 919,722 | 883,867 | 903,051 | 864,887 | 891,422 | 889,432 | 871,396 | 287,811 | 210,125 | 795,997 | 9,276,356 |
2015 | 911,205 | 752,567 | 915,541 | 881,151 | 903,267 | 863,518 | 784,224 | 838,780 | 870,449 | 912,558 | 887,442 | 919,380 | 10,440,082 |
2016 | 922,994 | 862,506 | 879,028 | 18,165 | 538,222 | 865,798 | 888,624 | 893,101 | 848,513 | 905,695 | 883,658 | 923,875 | 9,430,179 |
2017 | 908,108 | 827,888 | 870,773 | 881,507 | 906,309 | 785,120 | 889,975 | 897,148 | 864,495 | 155,902 | -11,834 | 328,736 | 8,304,127 |
2018 | 919,276 | 828,913 | 904,403 | 884,652 | 893,872 | 859,057 | 887,365 | 887,687 | 863,309 | 906,833 | 893,292 | 926,620 | 10,655,279 |
2019 | 911,445 | 813,601 | 912,224 | -6,761 | 320,245 | 865,191 | 888,716 | 902,124 | 855,023 | 913,456 | 892,828 | 921,771 | 9,189,863 |
2020 | 937,229 | 844,721 | 885,725 | 777,262 | 907,007 | 862,345 | 887,515 | 892,758 | 748,775 | 0 | 0 | -1,217 | 7,742,120 |
2021 | -29,677 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 742,905 | 868,611 | 905,856 | 889,061 | 915,677 | 4,292,433 |
2022 | 800,111 | 831,706 | 916,291 | 79,882 | 11,462 | 854,993 | 889,796 | 892,284 | 872,105 | 913,732 | 891,085 | 921,322 | 7,062,362 |
2023 | 923,026 | 832,359 | 917,636 | 788,763 | 629,535 | 869,209 | 890,611 | 891,884 | 837,217 | 0 | 679,782 |
Facilities
Cooling tower
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Callaway_Nuclear_Generating_Station_%2849963537367%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-Callaway_Nuclear_Generating_Station_%2849963537367%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
The cooling tower at Callaway is 553 feet (169 m) tall. It is 430 feet wide at the base, and is constructed from reinforced concrete. It cools about 585,000 US gallons (2,210,000 L; 487,000 imp gal) of water per minute when the plant is operating at full capacity; about 15,000 US gallons (57,000 L; 12,000 imp gal) of water per minute are lost out the top from evaporation.[21] Another 5,000 US gallons (19,000 L; 4,200 imp gal) of water are sent to the Missouri River as "blowdown" to flush solids from the cooling tower basin. All water lost through evaporation or blowdown is replaced with water from the river, located five miles from the plant.[21] The temperature of the water going into the cooling tower is 125 °F (52 °C), and the tower cools it to 95 °F (35 °C). The tower is designed such that if it were to somehow topple over completely intact, it would not damage any of the critical plant structures.[citation needed]
Risks
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.[22]
The 2010 population within 10 miles (16 km) of Callaway was 10,092, an increase of 3.8 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 population within 50 miles (80 km) was 546,292, an increase of 15.0 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Fulton (11 miles to city center), Jefferson City (26 miles to city center), and Columbia (32 miles to city center).[23]
Seismic risk
In August 2010, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's estimated that the annual chance that an earthquake might damage the core at Callaway was 1 in 500,000,[24][25] the lowest probability of any U.S. reactor.
See also
References
- ^ "EIA - State Nuclear Profiles". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
- ^ "Callaway, Unit 1, Current Facility Operating License NPF-30, Tech Specs, Revised 09/26/2017" (PDF). Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
- ^ "SNUPPS - Nuclear Plant Construction at the Cutting Edge, 1972".
- ^ "Callaway Plant Profile". Archived from the original on 2009-04-11.
- ^ "Nuclear Energy | Ameren Missouri". www.ameren.com. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
- ^ "Callaway Nuclear Plant Returns to Service Following Refueling and Maintenance; Sets World Record for Steam Generator Replacement". Ameren. 2005-11-21. Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
- ^ Slavit, Mark (2014-08-05). "Callaway nuclear plant well water samples have radioactivity". KRCG. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
- ^ "Callaway Energy Center still at zero power". News Tribune. 2021-03-04. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
- ^ "CALLAWAY PLANT – INTEGRATED INSPECTION REPORT" (PDF). May 11, 2021. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
- ^ "CALLAWAY PLANT – INTEGRATED INSPECTION REPORT 05000483/2021003" (PDF). November 8, 2021. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
- ^ Directors, Clarion Energy Content (2021-08-10). "Ameren Missouri's 1.19-GW Callaway nuclear plant back in operation after generator rewind". Power Engineering. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
- ^ "Ameren Missouri - Integrated Resource Plan". Ameren Missouri. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
- ^ Dan Yurman (2008-07-28). "Ameren files for 2nd reactor with NRC". Idaho Samizdat: Nuke Notes. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
- ^ "Ameren Missouri Submits Combined Construction and Operating License Application for a Second Nuclear Generating Unit". Ameren. 2008-07-28. Archived from the original on 2009-04-12. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
- ^ Nuke plant is, well, nuked. Not gonna happen
- ^ Terry Ganey. AmerenUE pulls plug on project Archived 2012-07-13 at the Wayback Machine Columbia Daily Tribune, April 23, 2009.
- ^ "Federal aid sought to build nuclear reactors in Missouri". The Kansas City Star. 2012-04-19. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
- ^ Barker, Jacob. "Ameren seeks to build massive solar array along I-70". stltoday.com. Retrieved 2019-09-22.
- ^ "Latest News | S&P Global Platts".
- ^ "Electricity Data Browser". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
- ^ a b "Callaway Facts and Figures". Archived from the original on 2009-04-11.
- ^ "Backgrounder on Emergency Preparedness at Nuclear Power Plants". Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
- ^ msnbc.com, Bill Dedman Investigative reporter (2011-04-14). "Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors". msnbc.com. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
- ^ 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)
External links
- "Callaway Nuclear Plant, Missouri". U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). September 22, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
- "Callaway Pressurized Water Reactor". Operating Nuclear Power Reactors. NRC. February 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
- "Callaway, Unit 2 Application". New Reactors. NRC. October 31, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
- Ameren's information page for Callaway
- NRC Facility Info
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