River Bend Nuclear Generating Station Explained

River Bend Nuclear Generating Station
Name Official:River Bend Nuclear Station
Coordinates:30.7567°N -111°W
Country:United States
Location:West Feliciana Parish, near St. Francisville, Louisiana
Status:O
Commissioned:June 16, 1986
Cost:$7.198 billion (2007 USD)[1]
Owner:Entergy Gulf States
Operator:Entergy Nuclear
Np Reactor Type:BWR
Np Reactor Supplier:General Electric
Ps Cooling Source:Mississippi River
Ps Cooling Towers:4 × Mechanical Draft
Ps Units Operational:1 × 974 MW
Ps Units Manu Model:BWR-6 (Mark 3 Containment)
Ps Units Cancelled:1 × 934 MW
1 × 1520 MW ESBWR
Ps Thermal Capacity:1 × 3091 MWth
Ps Electrical Capacity:974
Ps Electrical Cap Fac:87.02% (2021)
81.90% (lifetime)
Ps Annual Generation:7441 GWh (2021)
Website:River Bend Nuclear Station

River Bend Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power station on a 3300acres site near St. Francisville, Louisiana in West Feliciana Parish, approximately 30miles north of Baton Rouge. The station has one sixth generation General Electric[2] boiling water reactor that has a nominal gross electric output of about 1010 MWe. Commercial operation began on June 16, 1986. In 2003, owners applied and were approved for a power upgrade of approximately 52 megawatts in 2003. The nameplate capacity is 974 MW.[3]

River Bend is operated by Entergy, which owns 100% of the station through its subsidiary, Entergy Gulf States Louisiana. The plant's operating license will expire in 2045.[4]

The Site Vice President is Phil Hansett, the General Manager of Plant Operations is Bruce Chenard, and the Senior Operations Manager is Danny James. The station employs 870 full time employees.[3]

Units 2 and 3

The River Bend site was originally designed to have two identical units. Construction on Unit 1 began in 1973, but Unit 2 barely broke ground, with only the containment base mat and some underground piping installed. In 1984, plans to construct Unit 2 were officially abandoned.[5]

On September 25, 2008, Entergy filed a Combined Construction and Operating License (COL) application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for Unit 3, a new nuclear reactor at River Bend. The 1550 MWe Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) was the selected design.[6] [7] The reactor's cost was estimated at $6.2 billion.

On January 9, 2009, Entergy indefinitely postponed work towards the license and construction of Unit 3.

Electricity Production

Generation (MWh) of River Bend Nuclear Station[8] !Year!Jan!Feb!Mar!Apr!May!Jun!Jul!Aug!Sep!Oct!Nov!Dec!Annual (Total)
2001714,084650,382748,010463,174736,871698,777728,459732,547535,261322,474721,677748,4897,800,205
2002748,229674,147747,157720,092621,842710,136676,429736,760643,798738,648716,887733,3938,467,518
2003739,521542,471306,254356,196729,601695,523727,359726,653639,513728,573711,801737,9047,641,369
2004722,306688,909732,144706,090694,625698,129714,758642,269690,940304,074161,989669,8137,426,046
2005689,187415,590575,690708,083711,891507,585661,641708,425683,677716,629707,515722,7747,808,687
2006732,717376,317729,142448,200389,018672,088716,291720,271701,555602,736657,058720,1417,465,534
2007725,147661,186711,238549,766418,966426,290723,145716,879598,654579,550422,760650,9887,184,569
2008110,735-8,132342,423712,110720,704671,406727,695718,214153,794735,665716,106733,1456,333,865
2009739,478661,218732,687709,686725,329696,111723,627715,246422,217270,360703,396734,0157,833,370
2010735,775658,333715,171708,270728,688683,304697,143599,913695,580732,733672,628735,6258,363,163
2011325,685327,426729,247699,986728,598680,655719,969726,103696,843734,596712,191605,1467,686,445
2012727,099686,985720,502681,706276,570428,340724,571721,835694,129723,125708,300712,0127,805,174
2013723,821359,849223,352695,653718,352575,023720,701719,180699,175715,058708,754727,7257,586,643
2014726,806656,717727,282694,877721,252694,172712,122705,345683,474503,828705,399623,7208,154,994
2015646,588489,51415,181687,010693,828409,744662,122717,646684,848726,435569,253613,8266,915,995
2016180,432280,102613,706675,624721,754318,997714,545711,497695,187716,159700,659726,4077,055,069
2017613,498-6,913381,761677,357705,398570,939670,332597,486668,879717,886704,179731,4807,032,282
2018132,451356,815521,005705,899699,877670,282719,900630,772665,040696,199489,269712,4876,999,996
2019587,387473,138490,473-7,647288,109455,492720,130715,583697,541569,050701,601730,0766,420,933
2020707,060674,073725,431674,267724,229681,322667,703586,010663,112709,063460,145715,9557,988,370
2021718,718463,730158,844547,655699,238695,666717,662685,288643,759720,964665,034725,3177,441,875
2022730,195651,300726,737700,089713,570691,376712,095706,957690,584710,635660,315611,8658,305,718
2023542,158158,647000270,825670,805

Surrounding population

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission 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, and an ingestion pathway zone of about, concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.[9]

The 2010 U.S. population within of River Bend was 23,466, an increase of 11.1 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within was 951,103, an increase of 11.2 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Baton Rouge (25 miles to city center).[10]

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 River Bend was 1 in 40,000, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.[11] [12]

Safety record

Unlike the Waterford Nuclear Generating Station downriver in Hahnville, River Bend continued operation throughout Hurricane Katrina in 2005.The plant was shut down during Hurricane Gustav in 2008.[13]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: EIA - State Nuclear Profiles. www.eia.gov. 3 October 2017. en.
  2. Web site: River Bend Nuclear Power Plant, Louisiana. September 5, 2008. U.S. Department of Energy. 2008-09-28. dead. https://archive.today/20120527060826/http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_glance/reactors/riverbend.html. May 27, 2012.
  3. Web site: River Bend Station Entergy Nuclear We Power Life . 2023-01-07 . www.entergy-nuclear.com.
  4. Web site: River Bend Station, Unit 1 . 2023-01-07 . NRC Web . en-US.
  5. http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/ftproot/nuclear/043697.pdf Nuclear Power Generation and Fuel Cycle Report 1997
  6. News: Entergy seeks OK to expand La. plant . Mowbray . Rebecca . September 26, 2008 . . 2008-09-28 .
  7. Web site: River Bend Station, Unit 3 Application . September 23, 2008 . . 2008-09-28 .
  8. Web site: Electricity Data Browser . 2023-01-07 . www.eia.gov.
  9. Web site: Backgrounder on Emergency Preparedness at Nuclear Power Plants. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 2019-12-22.
  10. Web site: 2011-04-14 . Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors . 2024-08-16 . NBC News . en.
  11. Web site: 2011-03-16 . What are the odds? US nuke plants ranked by quake risk . 2024-08-16 . NBC News . en.
  12. Web site: Archived copy . 2011-04-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170525170632/http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Sections/NEWS/quake%20nrc%20risk%20estimates.pdf . 2017-05-25 . dead .
  13. News: Entergy La. River Bend reactor starts to exit outage . September 22, 2008 . . 2008-09-28. Scott. DiSavino.

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