Vallecitos Nuclear Center
Encyclopedia
The Vallecitos Nuclear Center is a nuclear research facility, and the site of a former electricity-generating nuclear power plant
in unincorporated Alameda County
, California
, about 30 miles east of San Francisco
, in NRC
Region Four.
It is owned by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy
and is located on State Highway 84
between Livermore, California
and Interstate 680
, south of Pleasanton, California
.
The Vallecitos boiling water reactor
(VBWR) was the first privately owned and operated nuclear power plant to deliver significant quantities of electricity to a public utility grid. During the period October 1957 to December 1963, it delivered approximately 40,000 megawatt-hours of electricity. This reactor - a light-water moderated and cooled, enriched uranium
reactor using stainless steel-clad, plate-type fuel - was a pilot plant and test bed for fuel, core components, controls, and personnel training for the Dresden Nuclear Power Plant
, a Commonwealth Edison
station built in Illinois
five years later.
The plant was originally a collaborative effort of General Electric
and Pacific Gas and Electric Company
, with Bechtel Corporation serving as engineering contractor. Samuel Untermyer II
, the GE engineer responsible for the initial design of the VBWR, had performed much of the conceptual research at Argonne National Laboratory
, while conducting heat transfer and nuclear physics experiments, including the BORAX experiments
(boiling reactor experiment). The main power generating facilities closed in 1963.
The Vallecitos site includes the Radioactive Materials Laboratory where post-irradiation examination
s are done. A small 100 kilowatt research reactor is still in operation at the site. Vallecitos also fabricates radioactive source materials used in medicine and industry, under a license issued by the State of California.
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
in unincorporated Alameda County
Alameda County, California
Alameda County is a county in the U.S. state of California. It occupies most of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,510,271, making it the 7th most populous county in the state...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, about 30 miles east of San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, in NRC
NRC
NRC may refer to:Research centres and other establishments* National Research Centre, Egypt* National Research Council * Nokia Research Center* United States National Research CouncilOther educational* National Resource Center, U.S...
Region Four.
It is owned by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy is a provider of advanced reactors and nuclear services. It is located in Wilmington, N.C.. Established in June 2007, GEH is a global nuclear alliance created by General Electric and Hitachi...
and is located on State Highway 84
California State Route 84
State Route 84 is a split-section California State Highway consisting of two sections. The first section is an east–west arterial road running from San Gregorio to Menlo Park, across the Dumbarton Bridge through Fremont and Newark and ending at I-580 in Livermore. The route overlaps the...
between Livermore, California
Livermore, California
Livermore is a city in Alameda County. The population as of 2010 was 80,968. Livermore is located on the eastern edge of California's San Francisco Bay Area....
and Interstate 680
Interstate 680 (California)
Interstate 680 is a north–south Interstate Highway in Northern California. It curves around the eastern cities of the San Francisco Bay Area from San Jose to Interstate 80 at Cordelia, bypassing cities along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay such as Oakland and Richmond while serving...
, south of Pleasanton, California
Pleasanton, California
Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California, incorporated in 1894. It is a suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area located about east of Oakland, and west of Livermore. The population was 70,285 at the 2010 census. In 2005 and 2007, Pleasanton was ranked the wealthiest middle-sized city in...
.
The Vallecitos boiling water reactor
Boiling water reactor
The boiling water reactor is a type of light water nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical power. It is the second most common type of electricity-generating nuclear reactor after the pressurized water reactor , also a type of light water nuclear reactor...
(VBWR) was the first privately owned and operated nuclear power plant to deliver significant quantities of electricity to a public utility grid. During the period October 1957 to December 1963, it delivered approximately 40,000 megawatt-hours of electricity. This reactor - a light-water moderated and cooled, enriched uranium
Enriched uranium
Enriched uranium is a kind of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium is 99.284% 238U isotope, with 235U only constituting about 0.711% of its weight...
reactor using stainless steel-clad, plate-type fuel - was a pilot plant and test bed for fuel, core components, controls, and personnel training for the Dresden Nuclear Power Plant
Dresden Nuclear Power Plant
Dresden Generating Station is the first privately financed nuclear power plant built in the United States. Dresden 1 was activated in 1960 and retired in 1978. Operating since 1970 are Dresden units 2 and 3, two General Electric boiling water reactors...
, a Commonwealth Edison
Commonwealth Edison
Commonwealth Edison is the largest electric utility in Illinois, serving the Chicago and Northern Illinois area...
station built in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
five years later.
The plant was originally a collaborative effort of General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
and Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company , commonly known as PG&E, is the utility that provides natural gas and electricity to most of the northern two-thirds of California, from Bakersfield almost to the Oregon border...
, with Bechtel Corporation serving as engineering contractor. Samuel Untermyer II
Samuel Untermyer II
Samuel Untermyer II, was a United States nuclear engineer who theorised that steam bubble formation in a nuclear reactor core would not produce unstable reactions but would instead result in an inherently stable and self-controlling reactor design...
, the GE engineer responsible for the initial design of the VBWR, had performed much of the conceptual research at Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is the first science and engineering research national laboratory in the United States, receiving this designation on July 1, 1946. It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest...
, while conducting heat transfer and nuclear physics experiments, including the BORAX experiments
BORAX experiments
The BORAX Experiments were boiling water reactor experiments done at the National Reactor Testing Station, now the Idaho National Laboratory....
(boiling reactor experiment). The main power generating facilities closed in 1963.
The Vallecitos site includes the Radioactive Materials Laboratory where post-irradiation examination
Post Irradiation Examination
Post Irradiation Examination is the study of used nuclear materials such as nuclear fuel. It has several purposes. It is known that by examination of used fuel that the failure modes which occur during normal use can be studied...
s are done. A small 100 kilowatt research reactor is still in operation at the site. Vallecitos also fabricates radioactive source materials used in medicine and industry, under a license issued by the State of California.