That's nothing. I know someone who can generate 1.21 gigawatts!
Posted on 08/02/2006 6:44:46 AM PDT by thackney
AMARILLO — An Amarillo developer is interested in bringing a nuclear power plant to this Panhandle city.
Amarillo Power is proposing the plant that, pending regulatory approval, could be completed and online within a decade, according to a copyrighted story in today's Amarillo-Globe News.
The proposal calls for a two-unit, 2,700-megawatt advanced boiled water reactor designed by General Electric, documents obtained by the newspaper through the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other sources show.
A megawatt is enough power to serve between 700 and 1,000 homes.
Amarillo Power is controlled by George Chapman, who did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday.
Though no location was disclosed in the documents, information in them indicated the "selection of the preferred site" would be made in the near future.
The Amarillo area has long been home to Pantex, the nation's only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility.
Tom Smith, director of the Texas office of Public Citizen, did not immediately return a call seeking comment about the proposed venture.
The price tag for the nuclear power plant is unknown, but a similar proposal to add 2,700 megawatts at a South Texas Project nuclear power plant is projected to cost $5.2 billion for two GE reactors, according to Nucleonics Week newsletter. Last month, Princeton, N. J.-based NRG Energy Inc. announced in a news release that it had filed a letter of intent with the commission to increase the megawatts at the South Texas plant in Bay City.
That nuclear plant has been providing power to more than 1 million homes in southeast and south central Texas since Unit 1 went into service in August 1988. The second unit began producing power 10 months later.
On Monday, commission spokesman Dave McIntyre confirmed that Amarillo Power notified the federal agency of its plans in March, but asked the agency to keep the proposal confidential, which federal regulations allow.
Within the past week, Amarillo Power sent the commission a letter saying it no longer considered the information proprietary.
Before it obtains a license from the commission, Amarillo Power will seek financing to build the plant, documents show. Federal law requires the commission ensure a company meets financial qualifications to construct and operate a nuclear power plant.
It is VERY expensive to build a nuclear plant this size and takes many years before getting the first mw. I am skeptical.
That's 'Boiling Water Reactor', not 'boiled' water. Jeez.
In the Texas panhandle, I suspect a megawatt serves about 300 homes.
The Boiled Water Reactor is better for making spaghetti.
Applications for permits for other new nuclear units have been filed in the US.
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/esp.html
It's also very expensive to bring in an oil well and maintain security in the Middle East to insure a sufficient supply of oil.
This would be 2 units for a total of 2700 MW's. The GE ESBWR's (General Electric Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor) are about 1300 mega watts electrical per unit or about 3700 mega watts thermal.
Westinghouse and Framatome are also completing advanced nuclear reactor designs and each have customers, in the US, waiting for delivery.
The nuclear industry is ramping up again after the environmentalist wacko's shut it down in the late 70's.
"Excellent!"
"My question is just where are they going to get the water in the Texas Panhandle??????"
It will be runoff from the tailpipes of all the vehicles running on hydrogen.
Hey Max,
2700 MW = 2.7 GW > 1.21 GW...........
This is a proven design and will be built exactly to the specs. From the go-ahead, it will take about 5 years.
I grew up as a Catholic in Amarillo, and the Local Bishop, Bishop Lawrence, told all the faithful in the area that if they worked at Pantex, it was their moral obligation to quit their high paying jobs at Pantex immediately, he did not care if they had to go to work at a convenience store at minimum wage, and to do so with, of course, no financial aid from the church whatsoever. From what I understand, some actually did as asked, and struggled financially for years afterward. Just another reason i felt compelled to get away from the liberal idiots posing as men of God in the Catholic denomination.
Well the good thing would be if there was an nuclear accident no one would notice the heat or the landscape difference.
Good news! They have one going up in my state too. I can't wait, nuclear all the way!
I'm guessing the water actually "in" the reactor never leaves.
For the water supply in the cooling towers, they can do the same thing Arizona Public Service did with Paloverde - use reclaimed sewage from the nearest large municipality...
It stays warm in your stomach!
I assumed this would be about Stanley Marsh, of Cadillac Ranch fame. Or at least T Boone Pickens. Ah, well.
Growing up in Amarillo next door to an atom bomb factory, we were pretty inured to fear of nukes. Amarillo would have welcomed a nuclear power plant back then, but I'm afraid it's gotten to be a liberal mess since, even to the point of some Catholic bishop organizing protests against Pantex.
I have no problem with them building and running it.I support nuclear power plants. They are expensive to build and it takes as much paperwork time as construction time to build one.Several billion dollars makes a lot interest in the bank in the meantime.
Not as much as those plants will generate when they get online. Any large power plant will take 4-6 years and $3 to $6 billion to complete. Take a look at the costs of the newer large (1000 MW+) coal fired plants.
If everyone just put their money in the bank to get interest, then no large capital projects would ever get done. Besides, the bank would probably have it invested in a large project somewhere else.
NIMBY!
NIMBY!
NIMBY!
NIMBY!
We have it even worse up in the frozen North.
ANIYBYE!!!
(And Not In Your Back Yard Either)
BTW, When are you gonna start drilling up there anyway?
I know - I've been commuting through there a fair amount the last few months. Went through in March a couple of hours after they re-opened I-40 after the fires went by.
Lots of drilling going on up here, mostly on State Controlled land and water and not to much on Federal stuff, like ANWR. When are the lower 48 going to LET us send you some more oil.
Probably needed to power your big screen TV.
They are coming quickly now. Starting last winter with Duke Power there are eight already started. This would be nine at least.
Amarillo was also targetted by the USSR because of the helium plant. Apparently that had some signifcance or other...
With 20,000 nukes to supply targets for, one begins to run short of meaningful choices.
That's highly optimistic. There are around 70 failed nuclear power plant construction projects around the country, multi-billion dollar investor, taxpayer, and ratepayer money pits. They always start out with the 4 year $3 billion price tag then end up many multiples of that before being abandoned.
Nuclear anything is never a place for optimism because the cost of failure is so high. For example saying a nuclear reactor or waste storage building should survive a direct hit by a fully fueled and loaded Airbus A380 superjumbo isn't good enough because if wrong it could cost America dearly. Likewise saying a immigrant security guard turned terrorist stealing waste for a dirty bomb isn't likely because the terrorist should be killed by radiation in the attempt isn't comforting.
Nuclear power might be economically viable under certain circumstances however everything about it must be looked at with a very pessimistic eye. I'm worried the headline should have been: Armadillo developer wants rate hikes, tax breaks, and government loans to build nuclear hole in the ground
Most likely the power station would be put out of operation. If any radioactive material is released it would mostly be in a small area. Net result: about the same as hitting any major powerplant.
When I was a consultant one of my jobs was to do the stress analysis on various containment structures under different types of dynamic loads, including aircraft impacts. Our analysis was bounded at the high end by the world's largest aircraft, the Antonov An-225, fully loaded and fueled, impacting at maximum speed directly into the containment structure. I can't tell you all the details of the analysis since they are proprietary to the customer, but, in layman's terms, no one in the immediate area will have to lose any sleep worrying about release of radioactive materials. Sure, the impact will put the plant out of operation for a time (because of damage to related systems such as the switchyard and cooling tower). But a breach of primary containment is not likely. We ran several finite element analysis codes using all available data on strength of materials and construction records. It was a pretty exhaustive (in more ways than one) analysis.
it actually uses pre-boiled water...
You're obviously not an expert on things nuclear - or just plain dishonest - when you use phrases like '...they always start out.' Do you know when the most recent of the first generation plants was licensed for construction? About 1978. For startup? About 1994. If you had a clue you'd realize the article is talking about the new generation of plants, simpler, more self-regulating. By trying to mix the two, you are endeavoring to confuse. You're just not clever enough to pull it off.
Oh, by the way, as a result of the doomsayer media - who express themselves very much the way you do about nuclear plants - nuclear utilities have mostly bought up existing plants at way below market prices - and they're making big money off of operating them. Of course, you're too busy watching the China Syndrome to notice.
By your 'logic' we would not have commecial air travel as the cost of failure, though the chance of failure is remote, is so high. Modern day Luddite.
Your post is full of personal insults.
Frickin' FUNNY - and I worked in commercial nuclear for 15 years. TXU needs to expand Comanche Peak SW of Fort Worth TX as well.
I thought so.... I went to school in west texas.
We don't call it 'pre-boiled'. We call it 'pre-heated' because it doesn't boil until it reaches the reactor vessel in a BWR.
Comanche Peak cannot be expanded. Squaw Creek lake is 33% too small for the current plant. Late July/early August cooling water inlet temperatures have hit over 100 degrees.
I worked there from 1981-1997.
Looks like TXU may expand Comanche Peak - good news for North Texas!
http://www.txucorp.com/media/newsrel/detail.aspx?prid=980
TXU’s plan includes using its existing asset base where possible to bring on the new capacity, including adding over two GW of new capacity at its Comanche Peak nuclear facility. The combination of geology, hydrology, property and community support make it an ideal site for expansion. TXU is reviewing its inventory of sites that were identified for nuclear power development over the last 30 years along with potential new sites in Texas and in other states.
"My question is just where are they going to get the water in the Texas Panhandle??????"
Presumably where they get at least some of their drinking water - Lake Meredith.
http://recreation.gov/detail.cfm?ID=2801
A wall constructed of the same material as containment and constructed in the same manner, withstood a direct hit from a cruise missile with negligible damage. It was determined that an impact of that magnitude could not possibly breach containment.
The naysayers that wave the TMI and Chernobyl panic flags are some of the most intellectually misinformed and fear driven individuals on the planet.
How can you identify these people? Look for the rolls of duct tape and plastic sheeting in the back of their Volvos.
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