Oconee Nuclear Station

The Oconee Nuclear Station is a nuclear power station located on Lake Keowee near Seneca, South Carolina, and has a power output capacity of over 2,500 megawatts. It is the second nuclear power station in the United States to have its operating license extended for an additional twenty years by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) (the application for the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Maryland preceded it).

Oconee Nuclear Station
Oconee Nuclear Station
Country	United States
Location	Oconee County, near Seneca, South Carolina
Coordinates	34°47′38″N 82°53′53″W / 34.79389°N 82.89806°W / 34.79389; -82.89806
Status	Operational
Construction began	November 6, 1967; 56 years ago (1967-11-06)
Commission date	Unit 1: July 15, 1973; 50 years ago (1973-07-15) Unit 2: September 9, 1974; 49 years ago (1974-09-09) Unit 3: December 16, 1974; 49 years ago (1974-12-16)
Construction cost	$1.961 billion (2007 USD)^[1]
Owner(s)	Duke Energy
Operator(s)	Duke Energy
Nuclear power station
Reactor type	PWR
Reactor supplier	Babcock & Wilcox
Cooling source	Lake Keowee
Thermal capacity	3 × 2568 MWth
Power generation
Units operational	1 × 847 MW 1 × 848 MW 1 × 859 MW
Make and model	B&W LLP (DRYAMB)
Nameplate capacity	2554 MW
Capacity factor	97.43% (2017) 81.20% (lifetime)
Annual net output	22,206 GWh (2021)
External links
Website	www.duke-energy.com/power-plants/nuclear/oconee.asp
Commons	Related media on Commons

This plant has three Babcock & Wilcox pressurized water reactors, and is operated by Duke Energy.

History

Oconee was the first of three nuclear stations built by Duke Energy. According to Duke Energy's web site, the station has generated more than 500 million megawatt-hours of electricity, and is "the first nuclear station in the United States to achieve this milestone."^[2]

Constructing the dam on the Keowee River and creating Lake Keowee resulted in the submerging of historic sites: one was Keowee, an important Cherokee town that was destroyed by British forces in the late 18th century. Before this took place, the sites were excavated in archeological work conducted by the University of South Carolina. Thousands of artifacts, and evidence of human and animal remains were found at Keowee. In addition, the site of former Fort Prince George (South Carolina) was also excavated and artifacts recovered.

In the summer of 2011 Oconee became the first nuclear power station in the United States to have its sensors controlled digitally.^[3] In 2021, Duke applied for a permit to keep Oconee operating until 2050.^[4]

Oconee is unique as it is the only nuclear power plant in the United States that does not rely on emergency diesel generator sets for emergency power. Instead it relies on two hydroelectric units at the nearby Keowee hydroelectric station. In the event the Keowee units are both out of service, emergency power can alternatively be provided by combustion turbines at the nearby Lee fossil generating station. Both sources use alternative cables to supply Oconee's emergency systems; these are independent of the Oconee switchyard and transmission lines, which are the normal source of power.

Electricity Production

Generation (MWh) of Oconee Nuclear Station^[5]

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual (Total)
2001	1,556,540	1,490,217	1,276,816	1,260,364	1,213,766	1,848,753	1,903,180	1,884,904	1,654,576	1,892,721	1,421,536	1,637,123	19,040,496
2002	1,933,474	1,745,334	1,748,028	1,248,796	1,913,490	1,853,050	1,895,601	1,798,224	1,822,768	1,485,668	1,305,767	1,934,892	20,685,092
2003	1,938,209	1,752,786	1,911,413	1,685,286	1,277,029	1,463,129	1,919,141	1,881,017	1,508,481	1,274,639	1,239,677	1,277,924	19,128,731
2004	1,720,979	1,756,460	1,632,799	1,220,727	1,282,041	1,489,055	1,916,822	1,903,919	1,788,626	1,436,128	1,241,711	1,278,228	18,667,495
2005	1,854,349	1,622,070	1,946,912	1,416,712	1,617,217	1,861,880	1,923,805	1,902,140	1,692,450	1,621,580	1,225,111	1,937,350	20,621,576
2006	1,947,293	1,759,202	1,946,970	1,703,485	1,284,522	1,601,171	1,922,693	1,814,012	1,715,414	1,392,268	1,254,270	1,577,798	19,919,098
2007	1,948,567	1,488,186	1,946,579	1,801,382	1,297,383	1,872,446	1,927,139	1,897,361	1,828,278	1,785,710	1,245,522	1,526,097	20,564,650
2008	1,946,910	1,819,903	1,763,726	1,379,319	1,288,116	1,829,340	1,911,897	1,893,710	1,739,243	1,769,327	1,179,511	1,660,099	20,181,101
2009	1,951,664	1,763,540	1,947,134	1,756,601	1,422,159	1,870,414	1,918,090	1,899,160	1,790,760	1,465,624	1,242,585	1,864,506	20,892,237
2010	1,949,036	1,722,094	1,946,932	1,545,344	1,290,943	1,811,748	1,927,083	1,818,373	1,833,564	1,720,581	1,433,009	1,944,318	20,943,025
2011	1,730,749	1,760,466	1,944,307	1,275,473	1,243,745	1,639,951	1,915,551	1,892,670	1,833,517	1,693,926	1,459,597	1,944,013	20,333,965
2012	1,946,180	1,817,640	1,925,119	1,436,272	1,281,521	1,705,979	1,814,181	1,886,454	1,828,446	1,807,132	1,258,356	1,940,200	20,647,480
2013	1,946,274	1,758,089	1,938,172	1,878,420	1,938,775	1,867,781	1,918,216	1,906,324	1,834,691	1,409,718	821,580	1,803,204	21,021,244
2014	1,948,084	1,759,876	1,941,839	1,531,390	1,629,054	1,869,525	1,917,212	1,899,880	1,832,551	1,835,614	1,308,895	1,719,461	21,193,381
2015	1,927,581	1,701,629	1,942,695	1,879,824	1,935,696	1,861,823	1,846,741	1,880,929	1,824,848	1,595,070	1,609,337	1,933,567	21,939,740
2016	1,903,401	1,817,437	1,457,114	1,692,041	1,596,040	1,865,465	1,910,254	1,887,096	1,818,094	1,899,729	1,390,767	1,939,665	21,177,103
2017	1,947,845	1,593,550	1,941,284	1,879,227	1,934,476	1,861,314	1,876,007	1,889,230	1,837,988	1,773,483	1,322,091	1,942,249	21,798,744
2018	1,946,748	1,757,994	1,938,179	1,578,181	1,544,209	1,870,494	1,924,331	1,908,836	1,834,602	1,635,991	1,572,432	1,782,248	21,294,245
2019	1,931,418	1,758,620	1,935,017	1,882,033	1,940,582	1,869,355	1,916,828	1,898,539	1,829,962	1,860,112	1,375,136	1,687,079	21,884,681
2020	1,947,639	1,824,721	1,943,108	1,447,355	1,742,141	1,880,869	1,929,218	1,911,407	1,847,195	1,610,335	1,503,768	1,954,511	21,542,267
2021	1,958,328	1,770,472	1,956,915	1,894,675	1,953,819	1,883,389	1,928,856	1,899,126	1,848,599	1,916,639	1,477,712	1,717,933	22,206,463
2022	1,953,222	1,278,362	1,944,969	1,824,677	1,405,092	1,878,834	1,923,538	1,904,448	1,843,856	1,852,970			17,809,968
2023

Surrounding population

 

The Babcock & Wilcox nuclear steam generator is seen at the company's plant at Barberton, Ohio prior to shipment via the Penn Central Railroad and the Southern to the Oconee Nuclear Station, then under construction in 1970. This generator can convert more than 10 million pounds of water per hour into steam.

The NRC 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.^[6]

The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Oconee was 66,307, an increase of 11.5 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. This includes the main campus of Clemson University. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80 km) was 1,404,690, an increase of 14.8 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Greenville (30 miles to city center).^[7]

Seismic risk

The NRC's estimate of the risk of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at Oconee was once every 23,256 years, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.^[8][9]

Flood risk

Duke Energy estimated the probability of a random failure of Jocassee Dam at once every 130,000 years, when floodwaters might cause the loss of power and safety equipment at Oconee. Though the company believed "in worst possible conditions" flooding could lead to a significant release of radioactivity, it concluded "the contribution to core damage frequency from precipitation-induced external flooding is considered negligible." Duke informed the NRC about this flooding hazard as early as January 1996.^[10] NRC has estimated the probability of a random failure of Jocassee Dam at once every 28,000 years.^[11]

Subsequent to Fukushima, improvements were made to the Oconee site to prevent reactor core damage from flooding from a failure of Jocassee Dam. The NRC has expressed satisfaction as of June 2016 with the flood protection modifications, which included new or enhanced flood walls and moving some power lines and equipment to less flood-prone locations.^[12]

See also

•  United States portal
•  Energy portal
•  Nuclear technology portal

• List of largest power stations in the United States
• Largest nuclear power plants in the United States

References

1. "EIA - State Nuclear Profiles". www.eia.gov. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
2. "Oconee Nuclear Station". Duke Energy. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
3. SC Nuclear Plant becoming 1st The Kansas City Star May 29, 2011^{[dead link]}
4. Ellis, Mike (June 2021). "Duke Energy applies to keep Oconee nuclear plant going into 2050s". The Greenville News.
5. "Electricity Data Browser". www.eia.gov. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
6. "NRC: Emergency Planning Zones". United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
7. Bill Dedman, Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors, NBC News, April 14, 2011 http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42555888 Accessed May 1, 2011.
8. Bill Dedman, "What are the odds? US nuke plants ranked by quake risk," NBC News, March 17, 2011 http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42103936 Accessed April 19, 2011.
9. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 25, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
10. . allthingsnuclear.org. Archived from the original on October 27, 2012.
11. 'Screening Analysis Report for the Proposed Generic Issue on Flooding of Nuclear Power Plant Sites Following Upstream Dam Failures page 9 http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/flooding.pdf
12. "NRC satisfied with Oconee plant flood protection upgrade".

External links

• "Oconee Nuclear Power Plant, South Carolina". U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). October 3, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
• "Oconee 1 Pressurized Water Reactor". Operating Nuclear Power Reactors. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). February 14, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
• "Oconee 2 Pressurized Water Reactor". Operating Nuclear Power Reactors. NRC. February 14, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
• "Oconee 3 Pressurized Water Reactor". Operating Nuclear Power Reactors. NRC. February 14, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2008.
• Williams, Buzz (Summer 1998). . The Chattooga Quarterly. Chattooga Conservancy. Archived from the original on September 20, 2008. Retrieved November 17, 2008.