Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant

The Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Generating Plant is located near Dothan, Alabama, in the southern United States. The twin-unit nuclear power station sits on a largely wooded and agricultural 1,850-acre (750 ha) site along the Chattahoochee River, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Columbia, Alabama, in Houston County.

Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Generating Station
Construction activities at the Joseph M. Farley Power Plant.
Official name	Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant
Country	United States
Location	Dothan, Alabama
Coordinates	31°13′23″N 85°6′42″W
Status	Operational
Construction began	October 1, 1970 (1970-10-01)
Commission date	Unit 1: December 1, 1977 Unit 2: July 30, 1981
Construction cost	$4.115 billion (2007 USD)[1]
Owner(s)	Alabama Power
Operator(s)	Southern Nuclear
Nuclear power station
Reactor type	PWR
Reactor supplier	Westinghouse
Cooling towers	6 × Mechanical Draft
Cooling source	Chattahoochee River
Thermal capacity	2 × 2775 MWth
Power generation
Units operational	1 × 874 MW 1 × 883 MW
Make and model	WH 3-loop (DRYAMB)
Nameplate capacity	1757 MW
Capacity factor	96.18% (2017) 85.50% (lifetime)
Annual net output	14,982 GWh (2021)
External links
Website	Plant Farley

History

The plant is named after the late Joseph McConnell Farley, an American attorney born in Birmingham, Alabama, who became president of Alabama Power (owner of the facility) from 1969 to 1989 and was later CEO of Southern Nuclear Operating Company; both companies are subsidiaries of Southern Company.

Construction of the plant began in 1970. Fluor Corporation of Irving, Texas was the general contractor. Unit 1 achieved commercial operation in December 1977. Unit 2 began commercial operation in July 1981. The total cost of the plant was about $1.57 billion. On May 12, 2005, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved license renewal applications for both reactors at the site. Unit 1's extended operating license is set to expire on June 25, 2037 and Unit 2's on March 31, 2041.

Technology

This plant has two Westinghouse reactors.

• Unit 1: 2,821 MWt
• Unit 2: 2,821 MWt

Both units are three-loop pressurized water reactors. The facility is cooled using six mechanical draft cooling towers supplied by water from the Chattahoochee River.^[2]

Electricity Production

Generation (MWh) of Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant^[3]

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual (Total)
2001	1,272,449	1,024,560	631,182	601,606	1,015,546	1,120,971	1,242,453	1,243,931	1,210,190	721,817	850,739	1,224,872	12,160,316
2002	1,264,235	1,152,381	1,266,258	1,212,829	1,203,778	1,199,073	1,234,644	1,229,609	845,801	604,939	1,231,118	1,240,922	13,685,587
2003	1,278,594	1,150,277	1,196,601	607,222	1,139,920	1,207,113	1,205,537	1,241,148	1,212,396	1,268,783	1,190,810	1,283,597	13,981,998
2004	1,281,366	1,197,109	808,327	862,698	1,270,211	1,233,926	1,260,644	1,261,983	1,197,407	641,474	845,434	1,287,406	13,147,985
2005	1,286,064	1,163,063	1,286,011	1,225,931	1,239,120	1,170,429	1,270,228	1,270,240	1,194,870	846,957	604,440	1,180,984	13,738,337
2006	1,285,930	1,166,273	1,261,211	747,544	744,269	1,226,035	1,227,993	1,270,840	1,238,166	1,287,521	1,249,468	1,334,372	14,039,622
2007	1,294,107	1,169,312	1,286,823	754,231	792,223	1,243,338	1,280,338	1,263,477	1,195,090	577,333	948,954	1,292,641	13,097,867
2008	1,290,834	1,209,205	1,290,834	1,221,983	1,283,906	1,238,178	1,084,548	1,230,776	1,237,470	985,916	703,399	1,296,176	14,073,225
2009	1,297,319	1,172,334	1,081,158	608,402	1,097,428	1,210,526	1,274,036	1,273,252	1,230,588	1,279,768	1,159,324	1,289,442	13,973,577
2010	1,288,051	1,159,228	1,272,447	673,223	857,479	1,231,417	1,253,408	1,264,536	1,217,369	800,068	833,964	1,318,494	13,169,684
2011	1,321,174	1,052,842	1,309,802	1,225,578	1,293,714	1,229,322	1,286,431	1,283,854	1,252,882	814,757	1,026,238	1,334,656	14,431,250
2012	1,213,424	1,246,133	1,269,067	696,509	1,318,959	1,272,736	1,226,176	1,307,855	1,272,839	1,319,812	1,285,228	1,334,239	14,762,977
2013	1,332,572	1,202,452	1,280,685	834,968	1,096,538	1,209,205	1,300,381	1,296,728	1,190,963	737,553	1,285,092	1,330,885	14,098,022
2014	1,248,497	1,203,184	1,325,343	1,284,984	1,274,501	1,265,157	1,307,929	1,308,761	1,266,006	906,219	861,176	1,253,632	14,505,389
2015	1,337,312	1,208,275	1,212,658	637,046	958,216	1,266,847	1,301,327	1,306,715	1,272,271	1,324,674	1,124,550	1,331,797	14,281,688
2016	1,341,773	1,252,945	1,328,747	818,623	1,023,936	1,215,425	1,307,658	1,304,362	1,268,047	657,319	841,701	1,326,720	13,687,256
2017	1,318,200	1,198,063	1,322,958	1,279,626	1,314,487	1,266,180	1,303,580	1,302,841	1,270,068	955,678	941,953	1,330,460	14,804,094
2018	1,332,915	1,182,137	1,190,346	674,758	973,681	1,251,061	1,305,794	1,305,374	1,113,057	1,117,192	1,286,739	1,331,992	14,065,046
2019	1,334,603	1,036,534	1,328,289	758,420	1,218,560	1,267,483	1,307,288	1,309,208	1,176,881	766,288	1,296,974	1,336,434	14,136,962
2020	1,336,316	1,248,847	1,326,947	1,262,135	1,323,766	1,270,401	1,307,212	1,306,926	1,268,701	865,323	928,943	1,330,280	14,775,797
2021	1,339,121	1,209,947	1,081,831	764,430	1,340,735	1,273,195	1,331,085	1,331,700	1,293,514	1,341,243	1,318,239	1,357,897	14,982,937
2022	1,366,204	1,229,072	1,357,085	830,566	1,231,717	1,288,965	1,337,525	1,252,017	964,002	670,261			11,527,414
2023

Ownership

• Farley, Unit 1
  • Owner = Alabama Power Company (100 percent).
  • Operator (Licensee) = Southern Nuclear Operation Company.
• Farley, Unit 2
  • Owner = Alabama Power Company (100 percent).
  • Operator (Licensee) = Southern Nuclear Operation Company.

Surrounding population

The NRC 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 Farley was 11,842, an increase of 8.0 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 421,374, an increase of 6.1 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Dothan (17 miles to city center).^[5]

Seismic risk

The NRC's estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at Farley was 1 in 35,714, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.^[6][7]

References

1. "EIA - State Nuclear Profiles". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
2. http://www.eia.gov/nuclear/state/alabama/index.cfm EIA State Nuclear Profiles; Alabama Nuclear Profile 2010 Accessed 4 August 2013
3. "Electricity Data Browser". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
4. "NRC: Backgrounder on Emergency Preparedness for Nuclear Power Plants". Archived from the original on 2006-10-02. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
5. "Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors". NBC News. 2011-04-14. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
6. "What are the odds? US nuke plants ranked by quake risk". NBC News. 2011-03-16. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
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)

External links

• United States portal
• Energy portal
• Nuclear technology portal

• "Plant Farley". Southern Company. 2008. Archived from the original on October 26, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
• "(Joseph M.) Farley Nuclear Power Plant, Alabama". Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). August 22, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
• "Farley 1 Pressurized Water Reactor". Operating Nuclear Power Reactors. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). February 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
• "Farley 2 Pressurized Water Reactor". Operating Nuclear Power Reactors. NRC. February 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-17.