Licensed MWt: 2,565.4 (capacity thermal)
Reactor Vendor/Type: Combustion Engineering C-E 2 Loop 805 MW PWR
Operating License: Issued – 02/21/1991
Renewed License: Issued – 01/17/2007
License Expires: 03/24/2031
NRC Docket Number: 05000255
That application to reopen was denied by the federal agency, Holtec acquired the plant in May, 2022 with the intention of decomissioning the plant.
It was announced Friday, Nov. 18 2022.
They applied for a federal grant under the $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) program. (June 2022 Amended Guidance) The same program awarded $1.1 Billion to Diablo Canyon which produces approximately 16 TWh of electricity annually, about 15% of California’s clean energy. The award will save 1,500 clean energy jobs. Holtec intends to reapply in early 2023
- The core inside the reactor vessel creates heat.
- Pressurized water in the primary coolant loop carries the heat to the steam generator.
- Inside the steam generator, heat from the primary coolant loop vaporizes the water in a secondary loop, producing steam.
- The steamline directs the steam to the main turbine, causing it to turn the turbine generator, which produces electricity.
The unused steam is exhausted to the condenser, where it is condensed into water. The resulting water is pumped out of the condenser with a series of pumps, reheated, and pumped back to the steam generator. The reactor’s core contains fuel assemblies that are cooled by water circulated using electrically powered pumps. These pumps and other operating systems in the plant receive their power from the electrical grid. If offsite power is lost, emergency cooling water is supplied by other pumps, which can be powered by onsite diesel generators. Other safety systems, such as the containment cooling system, also need electric power. PWRs contain between 150-200 fuel assemblies.
In the 1960s, C-E began selling nuclear power steam supply systems. The first commercial nuclear steam supply system was sold to Consumers Power Company of Michigan for the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station
C-E also managed the reactor known as a famous military reactor accident January 3, 1961, killing all three of its young military operators, and pinning one of them to the ceiling of the facility with a reactor vessel plug.
More info Neutron Bytes CoverageUpdate History: www.michiganradio.org/environment-science/2014-01-30/palisades-nuclear-plant-proposes-new-design-for-historically-problematic-mechanisms
world-nuclear.org/reactor/default.aspx/PALISADES