James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant
James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant
Map
CountryUnited States
LocationScriba, Oswego County, near Oswego, New York
Coordinates43°31.4′N 76°23.9′W / 43.5233°N 76.3983°W / 43.5233; -76.3983
StatusOperational
Construction beganSeptember 1, 1968 (1968-09-01)
Commission dateJuly 28, 1975
Construction cost$1.065 billion (2007 USD)[1]
Owner(s)Constellation Energy
Operator(s)Constellation Energy
Nuclear power station
Reactor typeBWR
Reactor supplierGeneral Electric
Cooling sourceLake Ontario
Thermal capacity1 × 2536 MWth
Power generation
Units operational1 × 813 MW
Make and modelBWR-4 (Mark 1)
Nameplate capacity813 MW
Capacity factor86.82% (2017)
77.3% (lifetime)
Annual net output6183 GWh (2017)
External links
WebsiteJames A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant
CommonsRelated media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata]

The James A. FitzPatrick (JAF) Nuclear Power Plant is located in the Town of Scriba, near Oswego, New York, on the southeast shore of Lake Ontario. The nuclear power plant has one General Electric boiling water reactor. The 900-acre (360 ha) site is also the location of two other units at the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Generating Station.

The power plant was originally built by Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation. FitzPatrick and half of the Nine Mile Point site were transferred to the Power Authority of the State of New York (PASNY), now called the New York Power Authority (NYPA). It was named after Power Authority Chairman James A. FitzPatrick. On November 2, 2015, Entergy Corp. announced its plans to shut down FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in Oswego County after the reactor runs out of fuel in 2016.[2] To avoid closure, Exelon Generation agreed to purchase the plant from Entergy at the price of $110 million.[3]

On April 1, 2017, Exelon assumed ownership and operation of the plant. Following separation from Exelon in 2022, Constellation Energy assumed ownership and operation.

Surrounding population

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.[4]

The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of FitzPatrick was 35,136, an increase of 17.0 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 909,798, an increase of 3.2 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Syracuse (36 miles to city center). Canadian population is not included in these figures, such as Kingston, Ontario, 49 miles to the city center.[5]

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 FitzPatrick was 1 in 163,934, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.[6][7]

Announced closure

On November 2, 2015, Entergy Corporation announced that it intends to close the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant because it is becoming too costly to operate.[2][8] The nuclear industry's profits have been squeezed out by utilities who are buying cheaper energy from natural gas power plants. “Given the financial challenges our merchant power plants face from sustained wholesale power price declines and other unfavorable market conditions, we have been assessing each asset,” Chief Executive Officer Leo Denault said in the statement. “Market conditions require us to also close the FitzPatrick nuclear plant.”[9]

In 2016, Cuomo directed the Public Service Commission to consider ratepayer-financed subsidies similar to those for renewable sources to keep nuclear power stations profitable in the competition against natural gas.[10][11]

In August 2016, Exelon agreed to buy the plant pending regulatory approval.

Exelon formally acquired ownership and operation of James A. Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Plant on March 31, 2017.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "EIA - State Nuclear Profiles". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b Knauss, Tim (Nov 2, 2015). "Entergy to close FitzPatrick nuclear plant in Oswego County". syracuse.com. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
  3. ^ House, Samantha (August 9, 2016). "Exelon agrees to buy FitzPatrick nuclear plant in Oswego County". syracuse.com. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
  4. ^ "Emergency Planning Zones". U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. September 29, 2014. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
  5. ^ Bill Dedman, Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors, NBC News, April 14, 2011 http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42555888 Accessed May 1, 2011.
  6. ^ Bill Dedman, "What are the odds? US nuke plants ranked by quake risk," NBC News, March 17, 2011 http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42103936 Accessed April 19, 2011.
  7. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-05-25. Retrieved 2011-04-19.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ McGeehan, Patrick (November 2, 2015). "Entergy to Close Nuclear Plant on Lake Ontario, Angering Cuomo". The New York Times.
  9. ^ Polson, Jim (November 2, 2015). "Entergy to Close FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in New York". Bloomberg Business.
  10. ^ Yee, Vivian (July 20, 2016). "Nuclear Subsidies Are Key Part of New York's Clean-Energy Plan". The New York Times.
  11. ^ "NYSDPS-DMM: Matter Master".

Further reading

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