Perry Nuclear Power Plant
The plant as seen from Parmly Road
CountryUnited States
LocationNorth Perry, Lake County, Ohio
Coordinates41°48′3″N 81°8′36″W / 41.80083°N 81.14333°W / 41.80083; -81.14333
StatusOperational
Construction beganOctober 1, 1974 (1974-10-01)[1][2]
Commission dateNovember 18, 1987[1]
Construction cost$6.024 billion (2007 USD)[3] ($8.23 billion in 2022 dollars[4])
Owner(s)Energy Harbor Corp. (Formerly FirstEnergy Solutions Corp.)
Operator(s)Energy Harbor Corp. (Formerly FirstEnergy Solutions Corp.)
Nuclear power station
Reactor typeBWR
Reactor supplierGeneral Electric
Cooling towers2 × Natural Draft
(one in use)
Cooling sourceLake Erie
Thermal capacity1 × 3758 MWth
Power generation
Units operational1 × 1256 MW
Make and modelBWR-6 (Mark 3)
Units cancelled1 × 1205 MW
Nameplate capacity1256 MW
Capacity factor89.18% (2017)
80.80% (lifetime)
Annual net output9703 GWh (2021)
External links
WebsitePerry
CommonsRelated media on Commons

700+ employees[1]
Perry as seen from Headlands Park, Ohio

The Perry Nuclear Power Plant is located on a 1,100 acres (450 ha) site on Lake Erie, 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Cleveland in North Perry, Ohio, US. The nuclear power plant is owned and operated by FirstEnergy-subsidiary Energy Harbor Corp. (Formerly FirstEnergy Solutions Corp.).

The reactor is a General Electric BWR-6 boiling water reactor design, with a Mark III containment design. The original core power level of 3,579 megawatts thermal was increased to 3,758 megawatts thermal in 2000, making Perry one of the largest BWRs in the United States.

Perry was expected to close in 2021 as it is no longer profitable to run when competing against natural gas plants.[5] To avert this, Ohio House Bill 6 was signed into law in July 2019 which added a fee to residents' utility bills that funded subsidies of $150 million per year to Perry and the Davis–Besse nuclear plant to keep both plants operational.[6][7] However, the bill was alleged to be part of the Ohio nuclear bribery scandal revealed by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in July 2020.[8][7]

History

Perry was originally designed as a two-unit installation, but construction on Unit 2 was suspended in 1985 and formally cancelled in 1994. At the time of cancellation, all of the major buildings and structures for the second unit were completed, including the 500-foot-tall (150 m) cooling tower. It is possible that a second unit could be constructed on the site, but current economic and regulatory conditions are not conducive to doing so (in addition to back taxes that would be due to the "abandon in place" designations on many objects in Unit 2).

Eleven hundred acres at the Perry plant were designated in 1993 as an urban wildlife sanctuary by the National Institute for Urban Wildlife. The area has trees, shrubs, streams and ponds; and a habitat for heron, belted kingfisher, ducks and geese. The forested area is ideal for the crane-fly orchid, a rare species in Ohio. The site includes a wetland that contains spotted turtles, an endangered species in Ohio.[9]

On March 28, 2010, there was a fire in a lubrication system for one of the water pumps that feeds water for generation of steam. Reactor power automatically lowered to 68% due to the reduction in feed water flow, and the fire was extinguished in less than three hours. Two plant fire brigade personnel were brought to a local hospital for "heat stress" following the fire. No customers lost power during this event.[10] On February 9, 2016, the plant was unexpectedly shut down for maintenance to a recirculation pump. The reactor was brought back to full power by February 20, 2016.[11]

In addition to Perry, Energy Harbor also owns and operates the Davis-Besse and Beaver Valley nuclear plants.[12]

In July 2023, Energy Harbor applied for a license renewal for the Perry nuclear power plant, requesting an additional 20 years of operation.[13]

 Unit 1Unit 2
Reactor TypeBWR-6
Reactor ManufacturerGeneral Electric
Turbine Manufacturer
Thermal Power3,758 megawattsUnit canceled in 1994
Electrical Output1,260 megawatts
Transmission System Connection345,000 volts
Construction Permit IssuedMay 3, 1977May 3, 1977 (construction suspended in 1985)
Initial CriticalityJune 1986Unit canceled in 1994
First Electrical GenerationNovember 13, 1986
Operational DateNovember 18, 1987
Expiration of Original LicenseMarch 18, 2026

Electricity Production

Generation (MWh) of Perry Nuclear Power Plant[14]
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual (Total)
2001 822,248 402,972 123,568 798,883 142,023 802,067 324,672 912,057 900,239 930,817 900,034 719,864 7,779,444
2002 918,229 799,411 939,038 900,714 930,813 481,701 909,817 918,977 594,820 745,370 904,754 931,166 9,974,810
2003 930,209 764,817 788,525 82,043 -7,910 867,503 919,276 678,084 809,632 920,924 856,928 935,145 8,545,176
2004 903,869 876,390 916,173 900,902 624,410 694,868 918,960 919,636 872,942 919,947 899,443 779,786 10,227,326
2005 121,586 549,786 -8,878 -12,730 640,649 888,993 912,172 910,533 890,892 912,803 902,642 938,200 7,646,648
2006 904,098 848,230 936,789 880,942 798,087 894,530 906,324 915,903 878,179 918,424 903,221 690,646 10,475,373
2007 925,628 841,117 906,738 8,911 294,340 684,060 168,786 931,004 898,058 929,063 837,810 632,732 8,058,247
2008 951,553 891,180 886,866 598,092 940,362 880,150 921,451 928,586 890,697 950,446 914,227 936,983 10,690,593
2009 944,877 657,957 -6,802 -10,609 392,649 676,761 907,675 928,035 904,217 440,263 812,520 948,929 7,596,472
2010 948,792 844,351 929,709 890,359 680,413 827,853 903,208 921,538 899,634 924,231 910,835 938,788 10,619,711
2011 937,494 834,829 876,861 436,568 -8,539 543,044 918,578 927,009 875,211 373,434 911,926 934,434 8,560,849
2012 941,442 886,315 795,538 373,434 932,521 619,344 914,450 869,909 875,608 926,623 911,517 926,405 9,973,106
2013 721,885 827,548 462,974 -7,203 404,866 620,070 928,048 916,126 777,536 940,124 901,938 947,510 8,441,422
2014 949,623 825,826 906,476 911,860 875,284 898,595 925,829 917,719 873,851 699,994 728,750 941,464 10,455,271
2015 933,301 789,395 200,060 133,474 943,412 902,981 934,710 936,036 892,341 948,465 922,161 946,509 9,482,845
2016 709,583 622,146 946,537 914,375 943,605 814,486 915,017 902,059 850,547 935,958 922,911 946,026 10,423,250
2017 889,629 730,056 81,611 799,786 854,715 900,496 922,662 924,360 901,953 938,167 921,095 947,846 9,812,376
2018 952,931 849,443 951,635 919,725 934,198 890,632 906,864 904,012 882,733 931,505 914,087 896,971 10,934,736
2019 809,277 556,333 177,752 670,859 941,856 841,553 780,669 747,528 859,887 939,869 923,556 923,963 9,173,102
2020 928,860 893,210 932,277 917,959 941,610 891,452 889,355 909,725 892,399 936,477 914,074 943,564 10,990,962
2021 892,962 731,469 134,313 643,595 940,469 886,554 917,399 891,878 897,857 935,011 919,089 913,272 9,703,868
2022 902,658 845,250 920,347 883,206 914,023 866,926 883,939 848,346 822,350 887,197 8,774,242
2023

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.[15]

The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Perry was 83,410, an increase of 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 2,281,531, a decrease of 3.0 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles (80 km) include Cleveland (36 miles (58 km) to city center). Canadian population is not included in these figures.[16]

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 Perry was 1 in 47,619, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.[17][18]

Security threats

At around 6:00pm EDT on April 7, 2021, the FBI's Cleveland Field Office tweeted that there was an ongoing security situation at the plant that necessitated a bomb squad.[19] The following day, law enforcement disclosed that a 33-year-old Michigan man drove to the power plant and told plant security officers that there was a bomb in the trailer he was towing with his pickup truck. No bomb was found; the man was arrested.[20]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Cass, Andrew (November 17, 2017). "Perry Nuclear Power Plant celebrates 30 years of commercial operation". The News-Herald. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
  2. ↑ "PRIS - Reactor Details". www.iaea.org. International Atomic Energy Agency. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  3. ↑ "EIA - State Nuclear Profiles". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  4. ↑ Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the Measuring Worth series.
  5. ↑ Funk, John (March 28, 2018). "FirstEnergy Solutions will close its nuclear power plants, but is silent on bankruptcy restructuring". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland, Ohio. Retrieved March 29, 2018. During months of hearings, the company argued that its uncompetitive old coal and nuclear plants would become competitive once the price of natural gas increased. And at that point, customers would see credits on their monthly bills, they argued. Opponents cited federal predictions that natural gas would stay cheap for decades and customers would just keep on paying higher rates.
  6. ↑ Pelzer, Jeremy (July 23, 2019). "Nuclear bailout bill passes Ohio legislature, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  7. 1 2 Wamsley, Laura (2020-07-21). "Ohio House Speaker Arrested In Connection With $60 Million Bribery Scheme". NPR. Retrieved 2020-07-21. Last year's nuclear bailout law tacked on a charge to residents' power bills, sending $150 million a year to the nuclear power plants. They are owned by the company Energy Harbor, which was previously known as FirstEnergy Solutions.
  8. ↑ U.S. v. Larry Householder, Jeffery Longstreth, Neil Clark, Matthew Borges, Juan Cespedes, and Generation Now (S.D. Ohio July 16, 2020), Text.
  9. ↑ "Ecological Stewardship of the Nuclear Energy Industry". Nuclear Energy Institute. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  10. ↑ "Event Notification Report for March 29, 2010". U.S.N.R.C. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "Power Reactor Status Reports for 2016". Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  12. ↑ "FirstEnergy". FirstEnergy. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  13. ↑ "Energy Harbor files for Perry life extension". ans.org. 21 July 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-08.
  14. ↑ "Electricity Data Browser". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
  15. ↑ "NRC: Emergency Planning Zones". United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
  16. ↑ Bill Dedman, Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors, NBC News, April 14, 2011 http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42555888 Accessed May 1, 2011.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ "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)
  19. ↑ @FBICleveland (April 8, 2021). "The FBI is assisting local law..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ↑ "Michigan man who claimed he had bomb outside nuclear plant arrested".
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