Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant is located in

Somervell County, Texas Somervell County ( ) is a county on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 9,205. Its county seat is Glen Rose. The county is named for Alexander Somervell, secretary of war for the Republic o ...

. The

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces ...

is located southwest of

Ft. Worth Fort Worth is the List of cities in Texas by population, fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the List of United States cities by population, 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, T ...

and about southwest of

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. It relies on nearby Squaw Creek Reservoir for cooling water. The plant has about 1,300 employees and is operated by Luminant Generation, a subsidiary of Vistra Corp. The Engineer of Record is Gibbs & Hill, Inc. of New York, New York. Construction of the two Westinghouse

pressurized water reactor A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan and Canada). In a PWR, the primary coolant (water) i ...

s began in 1974. Unit 1, originally rated at 1,084 MWe, came online on April 17, 1990. Its current, 40-year operating license is valid until February 8, 2030. Unit 2, 1,124 MWe, followed on April 6, 1993 and is licensed to operate until February 2, 2033 when it has to renew its license. Unit 2 was the third-to-last power reactor to come online in the United States, followed only by Units 1 and 2 of

Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station The Watts Bar Nuclear Plant is a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) nuclear reactor pair used for electric power generation. It is located on a 1,770-acre (7.2 km²) site in Rhea County, Tennessee, near Spring City, between the cities of Cha ...

. In June 2008, the U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with protecting public health and safety related to nuclear energy. Established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, the NRC began opera ...

(NRC) approved a request to increase the generating capacity of Units 1 and 2 by approximately 4.5% each. Luminant Generation Co. implemented the changes during refueling outages. Unit 1 was uprated in autumn 2008 with a capacity increase of approximately 1,210 to 1,259 MWe and Unit 2, the capacity of which rose from an estimated 1,208 to 1,245 MWe, was uprated in autumn 2009.

Surrounding population

The

defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of , concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne

radioactive contamination Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirab ...

, and an ingestion pathway zone of about , concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity. The 2010 U.S. population within of Comanche Peak was 30,653, an increase of 44.1 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within was 1,755,528, an increase of 22.9 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Fort Worth (41 miles to city center).

Proposed units 3 and 4

On September 19, 2008, Luminant filed an application with the NRC for a

Combined Construction and Operating License The Combined Construction and Operating License (Regulatory Guide 1.206, COL) replaced the previous Draft Regulatory Guide 1145 as the licensing process for new nuclear power plants in the United States. It is a part of a newer "streamlined" proce ...

(COL) for two new reactors. The reactor design selected is the US version of the 1,700 MWe

Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor The Mitsubishi advanced pressurized water reactor (APWR) is a generation III nuclear reactor design developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) based on pressurized water reactor technology. It features several design enhancements including a n ...

(US-APWR), developed by

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predecessor of Mitsubishi ...

(MHI). The project is a joint venture, with Luminant owning 88 percent and 12 percent owned by MHI. Luminant did not release an estimate of the project's cost, but CEO David Campbell said Luminant would try to build its new reactors at the low end of current industry estimates, which he said range from $2,500 to $6,000 a kilowatt — $8.5 billion to $20.4 billion for a 3,400 MW plant. Some environmental and

anti-nuclear organizations Anti-nuclear organizations may oppose uranium mining, nuclear power, and/or nuclear weapons. Anti-nuclear groups have undertaken public protests and acts of civil disobedience which have included occupations of nuclear plant sites. Some of the mo ...

and individuals opposed the plant expansion, citing environmental, public safety and cost concerns. These included the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development Coalition,

Public Citizen Public Citizen is a non-profit, progressive consumer rights advocacy group and think tank based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas. Lobbying efforts Public Citizen advocates before all three branches of the Unit ...

and state representative

Lon Burnam Lon Maxwell Burnam (born July 11, 1953) is a former member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 90, which encompasses downtown Fort Worth, Texas, and surrounding areas. A Democrat, Burnam is the former executive director of the Dall ...

. , expansion had been suspended due a natural gas boom dramatically lowering power prices in Texas, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries suspending development of its reactor design to focus on restarting its reactors in Japan. The Texas power generation company did not withdraw its application to the NRC entirely, leaving open the possibility that it might eventually expand.

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 Comanche Peak was 1 in 250,000, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.

Reactor data

The Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant consists of two operational reactors, two additional units are planned.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control Energy infrastructure completed in 1980 Energy infrastructure completed in 1993 Nuclear power plants in Texas Buildings and structures in Somervell County, Texas Nuclear power stations with proposed reactors Nuclear power stations using pressurized water reactors 1980 establishments in Texas Vistra Corp