The Braidwood Nuclear Generating Station (BNGS) is located in northeastern Illinois near Joliet and draws it water from the Kankakee River. It was originally built by Commonwealth Edison and ultimately transferred to Exelon Corporation, the parent company of Commonwealth Edison. The Station contains two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors. The Unit 1 reactor was put into operation in 1987 and is licensed by the NRC to operate until 2026. The Unit 2 reactor was put into operation in 1988 and is licensed by the NRC to operate until 2027. The total generating capacity of the BNGS is two thousand two hundred forty two megawatts. It supplies power to Chicago and other consumers in northeastern Illinois.
The population in the NRC plume exposure pathway zone with a ten mile radius is about thirty four thousand people. The population in the NRC plume ingestion pathway zone with a fifty mile radius is about five million people. The risk of a seismic event that could threaten the BNGS is rated as very low by the NRC.
In March of 2011, it was discovered that an alarm was not functioning because of faulty wiring and that there was a problem with back-up pipes. Over a period of years, six million gallons of water containing tritium were leaked into the water table under the BNGS without any notification of the people who live in that area. Both Exelon, owner of the BNGS, and the NRC have claimed that there was no public health threat from the leaking tritium but people in the area are claiming that the leaking tritium has cause severe health problems. With the revelation of the leak, the value of real estate around the plant has dropped and some people are unable to sell their property.
The NRC has stated that Exelon has repaired the problems with the alarm system that should have warned that tritium was leaking. Exelon has also replaced flawed back-up pipe. In May of 2011, the NRC held an unprecedented public meeting to allay public fears about the leaking tritium.
Power plants that use water for cooling such as nuclear, coal and oil are designed to run at lower power output during the summer months because of higher temperatures of cooling water. In July of 2012, the BNGS had to ask special permission from the NRC to continue operating after the water temperature in the cooling pond rose above 102 degrees. The plant is supposed to shut down completely in six hours if the water temperature of the cooling pond rises above 100 degrees, an event which had been extremely rare until recently. It would have been disastrous to have to shut down a two thousand megawatt plant right in the middle of the worst heat wave in thirty years.
At the BNGS, they had an improperly installed alarm and faulty piping resulting in a huge leak of water contaminated with tritium. This caused great fear and concern on the part of the people living around the plant. The rising temperatures of global warming will continue to interfere with the proper operation of the plant and it may have to be shut down completely if the temperature increase continues, a likely eventuality.
Picture from Northwestern University.
