Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant

Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant
Comanche Peak's twin containment domes in August 2017
Country	United States
Location	Somervell County, near Glen Rose, Texas
Coordinates	32°17′54″N 97°47′6″W / 32.29833°N 97.78500°W / 32.29833; -97.78500
Status	Operational
Construction began	December 19, 1974
Commission date	Unit 1: August 13, 1990 Unit 2: August 3, 1993
Owner	Luminant
Operator	Luminant Generation Company LLC[a]
Nuclear power station
Reactor type	PWR
Reactor supplier	Westinghouse
Cooling source	Squaw Creek Reservoir
Thermal capacity	2 × 3612 MWth
Power generation
Units operational	1 × 1218 MW 1 × 1207 MW
Make and model	WH 4-loop (DRYAMB)
Units planned	2 × 1700 MW
Nameplate capacity	2425 MW
Capacity factor	95.1% (2018) 88.40% (lifetime)
Annual net output	19,356 GWh (2021)
External links
Website	www.luminant.com/plants/comanche_peak.aspx
Commons	Related media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata]

Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant is located in Somervell County, Texas. The nuclear power plant is located 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Ft. Worth and about 60 miles (97 km) southwest of Dallas. It relies on nearby Comanche Creek Reservoir for cooling water. The plant has about 1,300 employees and is operated by Luminant Generation, a subsidiary of Vistra Corp.

The Engineer of Record is Gibbs & Hill, Inc. of New York, New York.^{[citation needed]}

Construction of the two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors began in 1974. Unit 1, originally rated at 1,084 MWe, came online on April 17, 1990. Its current, 40-year operating license is valid until February 8, 2030. Unit 2, 1,124 MWe, followed on April 6, 1993 and is licensed to operate until February 2, 2033 when it has to renew its license. Of the nuclear plants to begin construction prior to 1979, Unit 2 was among the last power reactors to come online in the United States, followed only by Units 1 and 2 at Watts Bar. Vogtle Units 3 & 4 were brought online in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

In June 2008, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved a request to increase the generating capacity of Units 1 and 2 by approximately 4.5% each. Luminant Generation Co. implemented the changes during refueling outages. Unit 1 was uprated in autumn 2008 with a capacity increase of approximately 1,210 to 1,259 MWe and Unit 2, the capacity of which rose from an estimated 1,208 to 1,245 MWe, was uprated in autumn 2009.^[1]

On September 19, 2008, Luminant filed an application with the NRC for a Combined Construction and Operating License (COL) for two new reactors.^[2] The reactor design selected is the US version of the 1,700 MWe Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor (US-APWR), developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). The project is a joint venture, with Luminant owning 88 percent and 12 percent owned by MHI.^[3] Luminant did not release an estimate of the project's cost, but CEO David Campbell said Luminant would try to build its new reactors at the low end of current industry estimates, which he said range from $2,500 to $6,000 a kilowatt — $8.5 billion to $20.4 billion for a 3,400 MW plant.^[4]

Some environmental and anti-nuclear organizations and individuals opposed the plant expansion, citing environmental, public safety and cost concerns. These included the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development Coalition, Public Citizen and state representative Lon Burnam.^[5]

As of November 2013^[update], expansion had been suspended due a natural gas boom dramatically lowering power prices in Texas, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries suspending development of its reactor design to focus on restarting its reactors in Japan. The Texas power generation company did not withdraw its application to the NRC entirely, leaving open the possibility that it might eventually expand.^[6][7]

Comanche Peak generated 19,687 GWh in 2022.

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.^[9]

The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Comanche Peak was 30,653, an increase of 44.1 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 1,755,528, an increase of 22.9 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Fort Worth (41 miles to city center).^[10]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at Comanche Peak was 1 in 250,000, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.^[11][12]

The Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant consists of two operational reactors, two additional units are planned.

• List of largest power stations in the United States

• "Comanche Peak 1". NRC. 2008-02-14. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
• "Comanche Peak 2". NRC. 2008-02-14. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
• "Comanche Peak". U.S. Nuclear Plants. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Retrieved 2008-09-19.