Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station

Beaver Valley Power Station is a nuclear power plant on the Ohio River covering 1,000 acres (400 ha) near Shippingport, Pennsylvania, United States, 27 miles (43 km) roughly northwest of Pittsburgh. The plant is operated by Vistra Corp and power is generated by two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors. As of 2023, it is the fourth largest employer in Beaver County.^[2]

Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station
Aerial photograph of the power plant
Country	United States
Location	Shippingport, Beaver County, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	40°37′24″N 80°25′50″W
Status	Operational
Construction began	Unit 1: June 26, 1970 Unit 2: May 3, 1974
Commission date	Unit 1: October 1, 1976 Unit 2: November 17, 1987
Construction cost	$8.520 billion (2007 USD)[1]
Owner(s)	Vistra
Operator(s)	Vistra
Nuclear power station
Reactor type	PWR
Reactor supplier	Westinghouse
Cooling towers	2 × Natural Draft
Cooling source	Ohio River
Thermal capacity	2 × 2900 MWth
Power generation
Units operational	1 × 980 MWe 1 × 960 MWe
Make and model	WH 3-loop (DRYSUB)
Nameplate capacity	1826 MW
Capacity factor	95.73% (2017) 80.25% (lifetime)
Annual net output	14,381 GWh (2021)
External links
Website	Beaver Valley
Commons	Related media on Commons

In 2018, previous owner FirstEnergy Solutions filed for bankruptcy and announced the plant would begin deactivation by 2021. However, upon emergence from bankruptcy in 2020 as new owner Energy Harbor, the shutdown of the plant was reversed largely due to then Governor Tom Wolf's decision to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.^[3]

In 2023, it was announced that parent company Energy Harbor will be acquired by retail electricity and power generation company Vistra Corp, who is based in Irving, TX.^[4]

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.^[5]

The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Beaver Valley was 114,514, a decrease of 6.6 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 3,140,766, a decrease of 3.7 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Pittsburgh (27 miles away, located upriver from the station).^[6]

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 Beaver Valley was Reactor 1: 1 in 20,833; Reactor 2: 1 in 45,455, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.^[7][8]

Fessenheim

Beaver Valley 1 was used as the reference design for the French nuclear plant at Fessenheim.^[9]

Electricity Production

Generation (MWh) of Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station^[10]

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual (Total)
2001	1,231,013	1,102,516	1,166,836	950,419	1,233,917	1,121,462	1,217,758	1,198,702	591,649	1,025,347	1,142,673	1,196,944	13,179,236
2002	1,251,304	608,240	1,153,187	1,145,473	1,184,805	1,192,272	1,221,348	1,225,802	1,154,533	1,249,381	965,672	1,242,688	13,594,705
2003	1,255,979	1,055,681	697,138	603,373	1,170,240	1,166,613	1,236,025	1,231,773	827,308	934,518	1,176,607	1,263,843	12,619,098
2004	1,251,657	1,177,942	1,220,378	1,188,612	1,225,320	1,201,024	1,220,772	1,235,005	1,195,867	952,187	864,397	1,260,218	13,993,379
2005	1,255,576	1,090,158	1,199,215	668,912	1,207,987	1,191,284	1,219,273	1,223,496	1,194,150	1,248,452	1,213,007	1,258,802	13,970,312
2006	1,254,947	792,833	624,592	697,832	1,186,048	1,191,446	1,220,324	1,113,204	1,172,583	653,918	944,844	1,282,740	12,135,311
2007	1,285,853	1,154,054	1,261,440	1,279,576	1,308,772	1,224,796	1,300,702	1,281,551	1,075,003	757,142	1,281,442	1,330,533	14,540,864
2008	1,328,381	1,211,375	1,313,801	911,269	792,501	1,284,269	1,326,577	1,333,679	1,256,559	1,245,861	1,310,912	1,355,952	14,671,136
2009	1,357,886	1,216,023	1,354,586	1,037,877	861,301	1,294,649	1,335,155	1,322,102	1,297,394	900,693	689,664	1,344,115	14,011,445
2010	1,357,353	1,225,085	1,353,752	1,247,013	1,345,076	1,290,446	1,326,140	1,311,559	1,294,561	678,679	1,215,321	1,348,579	14,993,564
2011	1,358,220	1,223,500	794,430	945,182	1,380,844	1,292,883	1,322,972	1,333,629	1,297,709	1,353,637	1,314,586	1,359,030	14,976,622
2012	1,359,448	1,272,132	1,344,520	808,692	1,161,799	1,292,939	1,268,412	1,329,804	1,110,623	671,637	1,262,546	1,377,604	14,260,156
2013	1,375,394	1,178,630	1,377,800	1,322,946	1,269,906	1,100,118	1,342,437	1,348,437	1,262,925	685,882	1,116,453	1,398,375	14,779,303
2014	844,865	1,243,056	1,395,377	1,047,970	844,775	1,321,456	1,364,524	1,364,878	1,328,888	1,252,314	1,351,231	1,397,972	14,757,306
2015	1,398,293	1,261,672	1,391,529	1,037,656	829,260	1,269,925	1,364,082	1,366,499	1,174,970	703,561	1,346,473	1,393,852	14,537,772
2016	1,397,675	1,094,983	1,389,378	1,344,236	1,377,025	1,299,133	1,345,488	1,347,302	1,072,007	805,867	1,349,777	1,396,703	15,219,574
2017	1,394,300	1,257,282	1,381,341	1,064,573	899,597	1,314,750	1,349,908	1,357,233	1,320,533	1,373,254	1,207,854	1,390,882	15,311,507
2018	1,381,756	1,252,602	1,380,710	949,395	1,132,138	1,290,425	1,260,796	1,254,216	1,294,648	1,049,057	1,014,319	1,393,394	14,653,456
2019	1,393,366	1,256,203	1,380,532	1,320,761	1,366,244	1,306,762	1,344,244	1,353,568	1,257,007	874,858	1,210,506	1,392,419	15,456,470
2020	1,391,732	1,302,673	1,340,253	857,986	1,206,458	1,310,120	1,208,593	1,363,603	1,313,674	1,372,307	1,338,512	1,387,482	15,393,393
2021	1,391,329	1,254,453	1,374,763	862,925	1,075,609	1,300,647	1,352,121	1,348,384	1,308,693	781,423	949,760	1,381,289	14,381,396
2022	1,387,928	1,252,103	1,379,442	1,333,966	1,360,796	955,857	1,320,353	1,348,094	1,314,936	845,831	862,952	1,387,769	14,750,027
2023	1,387,043	1,251,449	1,370,780	831,678	849,294	1,318,244	1,350,951	1,355,943	1,229,198	1,337,087	1,343,339		13,625,006

See also

• Pennsylvania portal
• Energy portal
• Nuclear technology portal

• Shippingport Reactor - Located adjacent to the Beaver Valley Power Station

References

1. "EIA – State Nuclear Profiles". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
2. "Top 50 Employers, Beaver County, 2nd Quarter 2023" (PDF).
3. "Owners of Pa.'s Beaver Valley nuclear power station will keep it open because of state's climate plan". StateImpact Pennsylvania. 2020-03-13. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
4. Corp, Vistra. "Vistra Announces Acquisition of Energy Harbor – Vistra Corp Legislative Hub". Retrieved 2024-01-28.
5. "NRC: Emergency Planning Zones". United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
6. "Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors". NBC News. 2011-04-14. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
7. "What are the odds? US nuke plants ranked by quake risk". NBC News. 2011-03-16. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
8. "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)
9. Thèse, publiée sur internet, de FOASSO Cyrille (Université Lumière Lyon2 - 2003) "Histoire de la sûreté de l'énergie nucléaire civile en France (1945–2000)" Le concept de centrale de référence : assurer les conditions d'un transfert de technologie optimum - "Dans cet apprentissage de la technologie des réacteurs à eau légère, EDF s'appuie sur le concept dit de «centrale de référence», adopté pour suppléer à son manque de connaissances en profondeur de ce type de réacteurs. Le concept de centrale de référence marque une étape fondamentale dans l'opération de transfert de technologie depuis les Etats-Unis vers la France." "pour Fessenheim c'est la centrale de Beaver Valley qui est choisie comme référence"
10. "Electricity Data Browser". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-28.

External links

• "Pennsylvania Nuclear Profile". Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). 2010. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
• "Beaver Valley Power Station". Operating Nuclear Power Reactors. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). April 1, 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
• Media related to Beaver Valley Power Station at Wikimedia Commons