Wolf Creek Generating Station

Not to be confused with Wolf Creek Dam.

Wolf Creek Generating Station is a nuclear power plant located near Burlington, Kansas. It occupies 9,818 acres (39.73 km²) of the total 11,800 acres (4,800 ha) controlled by the owner. Its namesake, Wolf Creek, was dammed to create Coffey County Lake (formerly Wolf Creek Lake), and provides water for the condensers.

Wolf Creek Generating Station
Country	United States
Location	Hampden Township, Coffey County, near Burlington, Kansas
Coordinates	38°14′20″N 95°41′20″W / 38.23889°N 95.68889°W / 38.23889; -95.68889
Status	Operational
Construction began	May 31, 1977 (1977-05-31)
Commission date	September 3, 1985; 38 years ago (September 3, 1985)
Construction cost	US$5.771 billion (2007)^[1]
Owner(s)	Evergy (94%) Kansas Electric Power Cooperative (6%)
Operator(s)	Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation (WCNOC)
Nuclear power station
Reactor type	PWR
Reactor supplier	Westinghouse
Cooling source	Coffey County Lake (5,090 acres (2,060 ha), pumped from the John Redmond Reservoir and the Neosho River)
Thermal capacity	1 × 3565 MWth
Power generation
Units operational	1 × 1200 MW
Make and model	WH 4-loop (DRYAMB)
Nameplate capacity	1200 MW
Capacity factor	101.29% (2017) 84.90% (lifetime)
Annual net output	10,648 GWh (2017)
External links
Website	wolfcreeknuclear.com
Wolf Creek Generating Station logo

History

Construction started on May 31, 1977^{[citation needed]} and it was commissioned on September 3, 1985, at a cost of US$5.771 billion (in 2007 value).^[1]

This plant has one Westinghouse pressurized water reactor that came online on June 4, 1985. The reactor was rated at 1,170 MW(e). A new turbine generator rotor was installed in 2011 that increased electrical output to approximately 1250 MW(e). The reactor output remained unchanged at 3565 MW (th).

On October 4, 2006, the operator applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a renewal and extension of the plant's operating license.^[2] The NRC granted the renewal on November 20, 2008, extending the license from forty years to sixty.^[3]

On January 13, 2012, at 2 p.m., due to a breaker failure and an unexplained loss of power to an electrical transformer, the plant experienced an automatic reactor trip and loss of offsite power that lasted 3 hours.^[4]

The nuclear plant was a target of an unsuccessful cyberattack by hackers in 2017,^[5] leading to indictments in 2021.^[6]

Generation (MWh) of Wolf Creek Generating Station^[7]

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual (Total)
2001	888,118	803,086	833,873	855,348	878,063	853,966	873,972	874,542	853,335	887,293	857,462	887,593	10,346,651
2002	888,357	799,266	608,945	41,519	623,618	849,793	872,827	873,897	850,467	886,975	858,367	887,671	9,041,702
2003	831,072	801,210	885,555	854,714	882,299	850,274	872,780	805,442	848,540	462,620	-12,790	807,951	8,889,667
2004	883,896	721,298	881,977	853,917	879,963	846,910	837,005	810,094	842,667	833,054	856,664	885,291	10,132,736
2005	618,685	716,081	884,712	209,235	329,357	846,487	869,375	871,289	847,341	884,564	857,647	886,172	8,820,945
2006	886,275	800,601	887,370	855,828	883,329	846,602	869,974	869,842	847,422	155,136	560,443	887,447	9,350,269
2007	887,999	801,514	881,725	858,366	879,108	847,151	870,017	866,697	848,194	882,895	859,137	886,333	10,369,136
2008	718,760	827,848	463,799	-8,726	437,666	846,724	870,912	865,376	847,526	883,317	858,061	885,897	8,497,160
2009	885,692	797,548	872,111	786,064	819,918	843,949	869,102	700,728	848,675	242,473	213,432	888,856	8,768,548
2010	882,985	803,221	653,886	857,453	883,604	841,746	863,933	865,496	847,441	426,678	855,523	773,746	9,555,712
2011	883,547	796,991	498,103	-6,128	-25,629	7,448	773,763	873,223	861,524	896,251	864,063	895,732	7,318,888
2012	357,418	-11,005	82,077	869,918	888,242	855,202	837,483	877,801	861,144	900,138	863,023	903,483	8,284,924
2013	901,523	72,505	-7,587	327,330	611,551	842,579	882,785	883,930	292,148	582,132	874,919	904,486	7,168,301
2014	900,328	816,789	184,526	-10,781	494,964	862,500	890,551	885,769	867,614	904,318	852,083	909,723	8,558,384
2015	909,980	786,680	-7,224	-16,253	761,833	862,928	885,723	887,146	864,625	904,321	880,443	909,976	8,630,178
2016	910,276	845,851	907,060	878,858	903,726	860,319	877,570	884,908	24,882	-5,464	245,456	912,600	8,246,042
2017	912,867	824,017	910,867	874,267	907,330	869,095	882,648	893,575	870,511	906,549	884,220	912,041	10,647,987
2018	912,386	822,973	875,324	-7,752	351,294	865,039	885,908	887,951	870,926	908,933	884,279	911,028	9,168,289
2019	911,787	823,970	911,644	881,581	906,465	870,229	890,153	893,065	570,296	-7,683	683,874	912,353	9,247,734
2020	911,525	791,946	911,466	882,418	906,774	867,876	889,607	892,895	871,477	908,720	840,655	907,123	10,582,482
2021	911,616	823,212	676,419	0	428,191	646,808	893,228	778,463	870,455	853,713	855,977	836,650	8,574,732
2022	913,572	801,347	857,428	825,608	899,673	867,172	763,282	890,127	869,681	135,914			7,823,804
2023

Ownership

The Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation, a Delaware corporation, operates the power plant. The ownership is divided between the Evergy (94%), and Kansas Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. (6%).

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.^[8]

The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Wolf Creek was 5,466, a decrease of 2.8 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80 km) was 176,656, a decrease of 1.7 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Emporia (30 miles to city center).^[9]

Seismic risk

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at Wolf Creek was 0.0019%, or 1 in 55,556, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.^[10][11]

References

1. "EIA - State Nuclear Profiles". www.eia.gov. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
2. "Wolf Creek Generating Station - License Renewal Application". Operating Reactor Licensing. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). December 1, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2009.
3. "Wolf Creek licence extended 20 years". World Nuclear News. November 21, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2009.
4. "Regulators to inspect nuclear power plant in Kansas". Power Engineering. PennWell Corporation. January 25, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
5. Finger, Stan (July 6, 2017). "Hackers targeting Wolf Creek and other nuclear power plants". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
6. Rosenberg, Martin (April 6, 2022). "Inside Story: Kansas, Cyber Spies, Nuclear Power and the Ukraine War". Flatland.
7. "Electricity Data Browser". www.eia.gov. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
8. [1] October 2, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
9. Bill Dedman, Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors, NBC News, April 14, 2011, http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42555888/ns/us_news-life/t/nuclear-neighbors-population-rises-near-us-reactors/#.XPHsAehJEgw Accessed May 31, 2019.
10. 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.
11. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 25, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

•  Kansas portal
•  Energy portal
•  Nuclear technology portal

• Official website
• (404)
• Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE):
  • Wolf Creek Nuclear Power Plant, Kansas (April 26, 2012)
  • Kansas (estimates) (version February 16, 2017)
  • Wolf Creek Nuclear Power Plant Tourism
• "Wolf Creek 1 Pressurized Water Reactor". Operating Nuclear Power Reactors. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). February 14, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2017.