The Humboldt Bay Power Plant, Unit 3 was a 63 MWe nuclear

boiling water reactor A boiling water reactor (BWR) is a type of light water nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical power. It is a design different from a Soviet graphite-moderated RBMK. It is the second most common type of electricity-generating nu ...

, owned by

Pacific Gas and Electric Company The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 millio ...

that operated from August 1963 to July 1976 just south of

Eureka, California Eureka (Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt B ...

History

On Monday, January 23, 1961, Pacific Gas and Electric held a luncheon to invite the community to observe the start of the major construction of the nuclear unit. It was shut down for refueling and seismic upgrades in July 1976, which dragged on due to changing requirements. Concern about previously undiscovered seismic faults combined with more stringent requirements required after the

Three Mile Island accident The Three Mile Island accident was a partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island, Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor in Pennsylvania, United States. It began at 4 a.m. on March 28, 1979. It is the most significant accident in U.S. commercial nuclea ...

rendered the small plant unprofitable if restarted.

Missing fuel rods

In 2004 Pacific Gas and Electric announced that three nuclear fuel rods were unaccounted for due to conflicting records of their location. The fuel rods were never accounted for, though PG&E investigators believed at the time that they were still onsite in the spent fuel storage pool. The investigation is believed to have cost one million dollars.

Decommissioning

Unit 3 was permanently shutdown on 2 July 1976.https://pris.iaea.org/PRIS/CountryStatistics/ReactorDetails.aspx?current=599 ''Humboldt Bay Permanent Shutdown'']. IAEA PRIS PG&E announced plans to shutter the plant in 1983, and it was then placed in

SAFSTOR SAFSTOR is a nuclear decommissioning method in which a nuclear power plant or facility governed by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is ''"placed and maintained in a condition that allows the facility to be safely stored and subsequ ...

inactive status in 1988. In December 2003, PG&E submitted a license application for a spent fuel storage facility, which was issued in November 2005. In December 2008, PG&E finished moving the spent nuclear fuel into dry cask storage on site.https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/decommissioning/power-reactor/humboldt-bay-nuclear-power-plant-unit-3.html ''Humboldt Bay'']. U.S.NRC, update 24 March 2022 The dismantlement of the nuclear unit began in 2010 along with the two original fossil-fuel-powered steam-turbine generators on site. The plant's power was replaced by an array of modern, multi-fuel

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...

reciprocating engine-generators in late 2010. The complete dismantlement of Humboldt Bay Power Plant is expected to finish in 2018. In the 2012 ''Nuclear Decommissioning Cost Triennial Proceeding'' (NDCTP) of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), PG&E requested approval to expend additional funds to remove more of the subterranean unit. As of 2009, PG&E planned to leave in place all HBPP3 structures three feet or more below grade (except for the Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) pool), including the concrete caisson surrounding the reactor vessel. In 2012, PG&E concluded that complete removal of the reactor caisson, and containment by a cement slurry wall, is the only appropriate alternative to meet NRC standards for remediating C-14 contamination. Currently, used fuel rods are being stored 44 feet above sea level in containers with very heavy lids. These containers are filled with helium, an inert gas, and will remain onsite so long as

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

and the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-re ...

does not comply with its agreement under the

Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 is a United States federal law which established a comprehensive national program for the safe, permanent disposal of highly radioactive wastes. * The US Congress amended the act in 1987 to designate Yucca Mou ...

. According to the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission), the dry casks are safe for at least 60 years beyond their licensing agreement. Based on PG&E's schedule of planned decommissioning activities, which incorporates various assumptions, including approval of its proposed new scope, decommissioning of the Unit 3 site was expected to conclude in 2019.http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Published/G000/M088/K640/88640387.PDF Decision D1402024 - Adopts Phase 1 of the Triennial Review of Nuclear Decommissioning Costs and Activities as related to Huboldt Bay Power Plant Unit 3 Between 2010 and about 2018, the facility was completely decontaminated and dismantled after being some 20 year in SAFSTOR. A license termination was issued in October 2021 and the site released for unrestricted use. A new license was issued for an on-site storage facility for the spent fuel. PG&E remains responsible for safely decommissioning the storage facility site after disposal of the fuel.''NRC Terminates Humboldt Bay Nuclear Power Plant License''
NRC, 18 Nov 2021

References

External links

Humboldt Nuke Faces Dismantling
* * {{U.S. Nuclear Plants Energy infrastructure completed in 1963 Historic American Engineering Record in California Nuclear power plants in California Buildings and structures in Humboldt County, California Eureka, California Pacific Gas and Electric Company 1963 establishments in California 1976 disestablishments in California Former nuclear power stations in the United States