Nine Mile Point Nuclear Generating Station facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Nine Mile Point Nuclear Generating Station |
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Far shot of Nine Mile Point Nuclear Generating Station (two containment buildings on right and cooling tower), the FitzPatrick Plant is on the left.
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| Country | United States |
| Location | Scriba, Oswego County, New York; near Oswego, New York |
| Coordinates | 43°31′15″N 76°24′25″W / 43.52083°N 76.40694°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | Unit 1: April 12, 1965 Unit 2: August 1, 1975 |
| Commission date | Unit 1: December 1, 1969 Unit 2: March 11, 1988 |
| Construction cost | Unit 1: $804.7 million (2007 USD) Unit 2: $8.529 billion (2007 USD) |
| Owner(s) | Exelon, EDF |
| Operator(s) | Exelon |
| Website Nine Mile Point |
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The Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station is a nuclear power plant located in Scriba, New York. It sits on the shore of Lake Ontario, about five miles northeast of Oswego, New York. This large site, covering 900 acres, also hosts the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant.
A nuclear power plant uses the heat from splitting atoms to make electricity. This process is called nuclear fission. The Nine Mile Point plant has two special machines called nuclear reactors that create this heat.
In 2012, a company called Exelon bought the company that owned and ran Nine Mile Point. Exelon now operates both units at the plant. They share ownership of the units with other companies like Électricité de France (EDF) and the Long Island Power Authority. Both reactors at Nine Mile Point are a type called boiling water reactors (BWRs).
Contents
How the Plant Works: Units 1 and 2
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Both reactors at Nine Mile Point were made by General Electric. They are called boiling water reactors (BWRs). In a BWR, heat from the nuclear fuel boils water to create steam. This steam then spins a turbine, which generates electricity.
Unit 1 started working in 1969. It can produce 644 megawatts (MW) of power. This makes it the oldest commercial nuclear reactor still running in the United States. Unit 2 began operating later, in 1988. It is more powerful, able to produce 1,375 MW of electricity.
The plant was originally built by Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation. They later sold their share of the Nine Mile Point units to Constellation Energy in 2001. In 2006, the plant received permission to keep operating for another 20 years. Unit 1 can now run until 2029, and Unit 2 until 2046.
Unit 2 has a very tall cooling tower, which is 543 feet high. You can see it from far away, even 30 miles away! Cooling towers release steam into the air to cool down water used in the plant. Unit 1 does not have a cooling tower; it uses water directly from Lake Ontario for cooling.
In 2016, the Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, suggested giving financial support to nuclear power plants. This support helps them compete with other energy sources like natural gas.
Future Plans: Withdrawn Unit 3 Proposal
For a while, there were plans to build a third reactor at Nine Mile Point. This new reactor would have been a different type, called a European Pressurized Reactor (EPR).
However, the companies planning this project decided to stop their application in 2013. They mentioned that they couldn't get the government loans they needed to build it. So, the third unit was never built.
Safety and Surrounding Areas
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) sets up special safety zones around nuclear power plants. These zones help protect people in case of an emergency.
- The first zone is about 10 miles around the plant. It focuses on protecting people from breathing in any radioactive material in the air.
- The second zone is about 50 miles around the plant. This zone is concerned with making sure food and water are not contaminated.
In 2010, about 35,632 people lived within 10 miles of Nine Mile Point. About 909,523 people lived within 50 miles. The city of Syracuse is about 36 miles away.
1991 Plant Event
On August 13, 1991, an event called a "site area emergency" happened at the plant. This was due to an electrical problem that briefly caused a loss of power to the reactor and control room.
Plant operators safely shut down the reactor. It is important to know that there were no injuries to anyone, and no radiation was released into the environment during this event. The plant returned to normal operations about 13 hours later.
Earthquake Safety
The Nine Mile Point plant is designed to be very safe, even from earthquakes. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission studies the risk of earthquakes that could cause damage to reactors. Their studies show that the chance of an earthquake strong enough to harm the reactors at Nine Mile Point is very, very low each year.
Images for kids
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Far shot of Nine Mile Point Nuclear Generating Station (two containment buildings on right and cooling tower), the FitzPatrick Plant is on the left.
See also
In Spanish: Central Nuclear Nine Mile Point para niños
