Waterford Nuclear Generating Station
Encyclopedia
The Waterford Steam Electric Station, Unit 3, also known as Waterford 3, is a nuclear power plant
located on a 3,000-acre (12-km²) plot in Killona, Louisiana, in St. Charles Parish
.
This plant has one Combustion Engineering
two-loop pressurized water reactor
. The plant produces 1,218 megawatts of electricity
since the site's last refuel in October 2009. It has a dry ambient pressure containment building
.
On August 28, 2005, Waterford shut down due to Hurricane Katrina
approaching and declared an unusual event. Shortly after Katrina, Waterford restarted and now is in normal operation.
Entergy is planning to replace the unit's two steam generators as well as the reactor vessel closure head and control element drive mechanisms during a refueling outage in 2011. The project is estimated to cost $511 million. The steam generators are being replaced due to normal wear and tear on the equipment. Waterford 3 is one of the last units in its class to replace its steam generators. Entergy petitioned the Louisiana Public Service Commission on June 27, 2008, for approval of the project.
defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16.1 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80.5 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16.1 km) of Waterford was 75,538, an increase of 7.4 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80.5 km) was 1,969,431, a decrease of 0.8 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include New Orleans (33 miles to city center).
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...
located on a 3,000-acre (12-km²) plot in Killona, Louisiana, in St. Charles Parish
St. Charles Parish, Louisiana
St. Charles Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Hahnville. In 2010, its population was 52,780. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, this was part of the German Coast, an area along the Mississippi River settled by numerous German pioneers in the...
.
This plant has one Combustion Engineering
Combustion Engineering
Combustion Engineering was an American engineering firm and leading firm in the development of power systems in the United States with approximately 30,000 employees in about a dozen states at its peak. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, C-E owned over two dozen other companies including...
two-loop pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
. The plant produces 1,218 megawatts of electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
since the site's last refuel in October 2009. It has a dry ambient pressure containment building
Containment building
A containment building, in its most common usage, is a steel or reinforced concrete structure enclosing a nuclear reactor. It is designed, in any emergency, to contain the escape of radiation to a maximum pressure in the range of 60 to 200 psi...
.
On August 28, 2005, Waterford shut down due to Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
approaching and declared an unusual event. Shortly after Katrina, Waterford restarted and now is in normal operation.
Entergy is planning to replace the unit's two steam generators as well as the reactor vessel closure head and control element drive mechanisms during a refueling outage in 2011. The project is estimated to cost $511 million. The steam generators are being replaced due to normal wear and tear on the equipment. Waterford 3 is one of the last units in its class to replace its steam generators. Entergy petitioned the Louisiana Public Service Commission on June 27, 2008, for approval of the project.
Surrounding population
The Nuclear Regulatory CommissionNuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16.1 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80.5 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16.1 km) of Waterford was 75,538, an increase of 7.4 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80.5 km) was 1,969,431, a decrease of 0.8 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include New Orleans (33 miles to city center).