March 2013
Geiger Readings for March 15, 2013
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on March 15 , 2013
Ambient office = .067 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .146 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain = .128 microsieverts per hour
Blackberries from grocery store = .058 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .106 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .092 microsieverts per hour
U.S. Nuclear Reactors 18 - Brunswick, North Carolina
The Brunswick Nuclear Generating Station is located near Southport, North Carolina on the Atlantic coast. It draws cooling water from the Cape Fear River and discharges the heated water into the Atlantic Ocean. The plant contains two nine hundred and ninety megawatt General Electric boiling water reactors. The plant was built by Carolina Power & Light Company. Eighty two percent of the plant is currently owned by Progress Energy which also operates the plant.
Geiger Readings for March 14, 2013
Latitude 47.704656 Longitude -122.318745
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on March 14 , 2013
Ambient office = .098 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .083 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain = .089 microsieverts per hour
Bulk raw peanuts from grocery store = .090 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .117 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .114 microsieverts per hour
U.S. Nuclear Reactors 16 - Salem, New Jersey
The Salem Nuclear Power Plant is located on Artificial Island in the Delaware Bay of New Jersey. It contains two Westinghouse pressurized water reactors which together can generate two thousand two hundred and seventy five megawatts of electricity. Unit One began commercial operation in 1977 and was licensed for forty years of operation. Unit Two began commercial operation in 1981 and was licensed for forty years of operation.
Geiger Readings for March 13, 2013
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on March 13 , 2013
Ambient office = .097 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .159 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain = .058 microsieverts per hour
Banana from grocery store = .131 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .104 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .063 microsieverts per hour
U.S. Nuclear Reactors 16 - Browns Ferry, Alabama
The Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant is located on the Tennessee River on the north shore of Wheeler Lake in northern Alabama near Decatur and Athens. The plant has three General Electric boiling water reactors that can each generate about one thousand one hundred megawatts. Unit One began operating in 1973, Unit Two in 1974 and Unit Three in 1976. The plant was built and is owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). It went into operation in 1974.
U.S. Nuclear Reactors 15 - FitzPatrick, New York
The James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant is located near Oswego, New York on the southeast shore of Lake Ontario. The plant contains one eight hundred and thirty eight megawatt General Electric boiling water reactor. The reactor was built by the Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation and put into operation in 1975 with a forty year license to 2014. Ownership passed to the Power Authority of the State of New York and eventually to Entergy.
U.S. Nuclear Reactors 14 - Donald C Cook, Michigan
The Donald C. Cook Nuclear Generating Station is located eleven miles north of St. Joseph, Michigan on the southeast shore of Lake Michigan. The plant contains two 1000 megawatt Westinghouse four loop pressurized water nuclear reactors. The Unit 1 reactor was put into operation in 1974 and was licensed until 2014.
U.S. Nuclear Reactors 13 - Calvert Cliffs, Maryland
Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant is located on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. The plant contains two nine hundred megawatt Combustion Engineering Generation II two-loop pressurized water reactors. Unit 1 was put into commercial operation in 1975 with a license to operate until 2014 and Unit 2 was put into operation in 1977 with a license to operate until 2016. Unit 1 was relicensed until 2034 in 2000 and Unit 2 was relicensed until 2036 in 2000.
U.S. Nuclear Reactors 12 - Davis-Besse, Ohio
The Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station is located in Oak Harbor, Ohio on the southwest coast of Lake Erie. It has one nine hundred megawatt pressurized water reactor that was put into operation by FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company in 1977 and was licensed to operate until 2017. FirstEnergy Nuclear applied to the NRC for a twenty year license extension in 2010.
U.S. Nuclear Reactors 11 - Indian Point, New York
The Indian Point Energy Center is located in Buchanan, New York. It draws cooling water from the Hudson River. There are three Westinghouse pressurized water reactors at the Center. Unit 1 was put into operation in 1962 and permanently shut down in 1974 because it did not have an emergency core cooling system. Unit 2 was built by Consolidated Edison and began commercial operation in 1973 with a license to operation until 2014.
Nuclear Reactors 15 - Decommissioning Funds
I have already written a post about decommissioning nuclear reactors. In that previous post, I ending it by writing about concerns I had with the funding of the decommissioning. In this post, I want to drill down into that subject a bit more. The NRC requires nuclear power companies to maintain sufficient funds to dismantle nuclear power reactors and decontaminate the land where the reactor was located.
U.S. Nuclear Reactors 10 - Clinton Nuclear Generating Station, Illinois
The Clinton Nuclear Generating Station is located near Clinton, Illinois. It is a General Electric Generation II boiling water reactor with a one thousand megawatt generation capacity. It was built by Illinois Power and put into operation in 1987 with a forty year operating license until 2026.The plant owners also own a five thousand acre cooling reservoir, most of which is open for recreational use.
U.S. Nuclear Reactors 9 - Pilgrim, Massachusetts
The Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station is located in Plymouth, Massachusetts and draws its cooling water from Cape Cod Bay. It is a General Electric boiling water reactor built in 1972 by Boston Edison with a six hundred and ninety megawatt generation capacity. It was sold to Entergy Corporation in 1999. The original license expired in 2012. In 2006, Entergy applied for a twenty year extension which was granted.
U.S. Nuclear Reactors 8 - Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania
The Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station is fifty miles southeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and draws cooling water from the Susquehanna River. Unit One was an experimental reactor that only operated for eight years and was shut down in 1974. Unit Two and Unit Three are General Electric boiling water reactors rated at one thousand two hundred megawatts each.
U.S. Nuclear Reactors 8 - Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania
The Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station is fifty miles southeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and draws cooling water from the Susquehanna River. Unit One was an experimental reactor that only operated for eight years and was shut down in 1974. Unit Two and Unit Three are General Electric boiling water reactors rated at one thousand two hundred megawatts each.