Wolf Creek Generating Station
Wolf Creek Generating Station | |
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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 |
Status | Operational |
Construction began | May 30, 1977 |
Commission date | 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 |
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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.
History
[edit]Construction started on May 30, 1977[2] 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.[3] The NRC granted the renewal on November 20, 2008, extending the license from forty years to sixty.[4]
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.[5]
The nuclear plant was a target of an unsuccessful cyberattack by hackers in 2017,[6] leading to indictments in 2021.[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
[edit]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
[edit]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.[9]
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).[10]
Seismic risk
[edit]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.[11][12]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "EIA - State Nuclear Profiles". www.eia.gov. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
- ^ "Wolf Creek, United States Of America". World Nuclear Association. World Nuclear Association. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
- ^ "Wolf Creek Generating Station - License Renewal Application". Operating Reactor Licensing. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). December 1, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2009.
- ^ "Wolf Creek licence extended 20 years". World Nuclear News. November 21, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2009.
- ^ "Regulators to inspect nuclear power plant in Kansas". Power Engineering. PennWell Corporation. January 25, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
- ^ Finger, Stan (July 6, 2017). "Hackers targeting Wolf Creek and other nuclear power plants". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- ^ Rosenberg, Martin (April 6, 2022). "Inside Story: Kansas, Cyber Spies, Nuclear Power and the Ukraine War". Flatland.
- ^ "Electricity Data Browser". www.eia.gov. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ^ [1] Archived October 2, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors". NBC News. April 14, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- ^ "What are the odds? US nuke plants ranked by quake risk". NBC News. March 16, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- ^ "Archived copy" (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
[edit]- Official website
- Old Official Website (Archived) (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.