USA | PAVILION MEET THE USA’S NUCLEAR SECTOR AT WNE2021
First power Electricity generation from commercial nuclear power plants in the USA began in 1958 at Shippingport, Pennsylvania.
NUCLEAR SITES At the end of December 2020, the USA had 94 operating commercial nuclear reactors at 56 nuclear power sites in 28 states. US nuclear electricity generation capacity peaked in 2012 at about 102,000MW when there were 104 operating nuclear reactors. The oldest operating reactor, Nine Mile Point 1 in New York, began operation in December 1969. The newest reactor is Watts Bar 2, which started up in 2016 – 20 years after its fellow, Watts Bar 1.
NUCLEAR GENERATORS Although the number of nuclear units has decreased, with 94 now in operation, between 2014 and 2018, annual electricity generation increased each year due to capacity uprates and increasing capacity factors.
LIFE EXTENSION The continuing importance of nuclear was illustrated recently, when Florida Power and Light submitted a ‘subsequent license renewal’ application for two units at St Lucie in Jensen, Florida. The process is in motion: following acceptance of the August application in September, in October the NRC began a public consultation to hear the public’s views regarding environmental issues the agency should consider in reviewing the application. St Lucie 1 and 2 already have a planned
lifetime of 60 years, after FP&L won a 20-year extension to the units’ original 40-year licenses.
Distribution of nuclear power plants in the lower 48 states
Capacity 3,937 MW 582 MW
I don’t expect those old ones [nuclear reactors] to be around a long time. But I do expect them to be
safe, and I expect them to continue in a way that’s going to allow us to keep the greenhouse gas emissions down with really stable baseload capacity”.
Gina McCarthy. climate adviser to President Joe Biden It also follows close on another extension request:
in July NRC already accepted a license renewal application for Duke Energy’s three reactors at Oconee, which are also part-way through the period of their first 20-year license extension.
94
US reactor numbers have fallen from their peak but they remain a key source of low-carbon power
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