Gas and Nuclear: A Comparison of Two Local PlantsANS Nuclear CafeNovember 23, 2011, 7:00AM|Meredith AngwinMany recent speeches (and blog posts) have compared nuclear and gas as sources of electricity generation for our future. In this post, I will bring the comparisons closer to home, describing some of the similarities and differences between the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, Vt., and the Granite Ridge Combined Cycle power plant near Manchester, N.H. Which technology is the future: gas or nuclear? Or are they both the future?Overview of the plantsVermont Yankee is a 620-MW boiling water reactor nuclear power plant, owned by Entergy Corporation. It was commissioned in 1972. Entergy owns more than 40 power plants in the United States (natural gas, nuclear, coal, and oil), as well as an extensive distribution system.Granite Ridge is a modern combined cycle gas turbine plant (CCGT) whose maximum output varies between 660 MW and 790 MW, depending on the season. It went online in 2003. The plant was built by AES, a multi-national company that owns 34 power plants and an extensive distribution system in the U.S., and further holdings in 27 countries.The ILEAD Energy Safari course visited Granite Ridge on November 8. Bob Hargraves wrote an excellent blog post about that visit, including many pictures.The public face of the two plantsEveryone in New England knows that Vermont Yankee exists: It is always in the news. The plant also operates several websites, including: The main site: SafeCleanReliable A site about business in Vermont A site about Vermont Yankee employeesIn contrast, few people know that the Granite Ridge plant exists. It is seldom in the news, and does not have its own website.Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant Vermont Yankee is located on the Connecticut River near Vernon Dam. It gets its cooling water from Vernon Pond (the lake behind the dam). Granite Ridge gas power plantGranite Ridge is tucked away in an industrial park. It gets its cooling water from the Manchester sewage treatment plant. The round object near the forefront of the Granite Ridge picture is a tank of yogurt from the StonyField Farms yogurt factory next door.In the picture, you can also see that Granite Ridge has relatively low stacks. The plant does an excellent job of cleaning NOx, so the stacks emit only carbon dioxide and water. They do not need to be very high. Also, the plant is located in an industrial park on the flight path to the Manchester airport, which necessitates building height restrictions at the site.Plant economicsVermont Yankee is a major employer in its region, employing 650 people.In contrast, a shift of four people can operate Granite Ridge. My guess is that Granite Ridge employs less than 100 people.Working principle of a combined cycle power plant (Legend: 1-Electric generators, 2-Steam turbine, 3-Condenser, 4-Pump, 5-Boiler/heat exchanger, 6-Gas turbine) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined-cycleGranite Ridge has 50-percent thermal efficiency, higher than any coal or nuclear plant. Though the plant is efficient and the price of natural gas is at historic lows, natural gas remains a high-end fuel. This means that natural gas plants are dropped from the mix when the grid doesn't need much power. Power prices on the grid are frequently below Granite Ridge's break-even point. The Energy Safari group was told that the plant does not operate as steadily as it would like to operate.Granite Ridge is not a "peaker" plant, but it can easily move output up or down 5 MW a minute. It is frequently instructed to "load-follow" by the grid operator. Vermont Yankee is a "base load" plant, and thus usually runs at 100 percent. Both are very reliable plants.Vermont Yankee is running steadily after 40 years, operating under a power purchase agreement put in place in 2002. This agreement gives Vermont Yankee about 4.5 cents per kWh. Granite Ridge is trying to be profitable and keep running while having the advantage of historically low gas prices. I believe that Granite Ridge sells at the market price, which goes above and below 4.5 cents quite regularly. For example, at late afternoon Friday, November 18, the local grid day-ahead market was 3.7 cents per kWh, while the real-time market was 5.1 cents per kWh.Which is the future?In my opinion, the future balance between gas and nuclear will basically be determined by whether or not Americans consider carbon dioxide to be important. Americans are quite willing to do small personal things to lower emissions (e.g., replacing light bulbs). We do not, however, tend to take carbon dioxide seriously when it comes to choices about power plants.Granite Ridge is an impressive plant, with excellent control of NOx, and high thermal efficiency. It can load-follow, and it is using sewage treatment effluent as cooling water. Plants like this will be part of the future.But the whole future? First, all fossil fuels carry carbon dioxide and climate change concerns. Second, grid operators do not like to see the grid overly dependent on a single fuel source, especially one like natural gas with major price volatility. The grid needs a mix of plants. Nuclear and natural gas must both be part of that mix.______________AngwinMeredith Angwin is the founder of Carnot Communications, which helps firms to communicate technical matters. She specialized in mineral chemistry as a graduate student at the University of Chicago. Later, she became a project manager in the geothermal group at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Then she moved to nuclear energy, becoming a project manager in the EPRI nuclear division. She is an inventor on several patents. Angwin serves as a commissioner in the Hartford Energy Commission, Hartford, Vt. Angwin is a long-time member of the American Nuclear Society and coordinator of the Energy Education Project. She is a frequent contributor to the ANS Nuclear Cafe.Tags:entergyview from vermontShare:LinkedInTwitterFacebook
Transfer of Palisades license from Entergy to Holtec challengedSeveral antinuclear groups and the State of Michigan have filed petitions to intervene in the transfer of the Palisades nuclear power plant license from Entergy to Holtec International for decommissioning following the plant’s permanent shutdown and defueling in the spring of 2022. Go to Article
NRC opens Palisades license proceedings to public commentThe Nuclear Regulatory Commission has opened for public comment the license transfer proceedings for the Palisades nuclear power plant, with the opportunity to request a hearing and petition for leave to intervene. Notice of the open proceedings was published in the February 4 Federal Register. Deadlines are February 24 for requests for a hearing and March 8 for comments.In December, Entergy Corporation and Holtec International jointly submitted an application to the NRC for approval of the transfer of the licenses for the Palisades nuclear plant–located in Covert, Mich.—to Holtec, following the plant’s permanent shutdown and defueling in the spring of 2022. The application also requests approval of the license transfer of Entergy’s decommissioned Big Rock Point facility near Charlevoix, Mich., where only the independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) remains.Go to Article
New York sues NRC over Indian Point decommissioningIndian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan, N.Y. Photo: Entergy NuclearNew York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit on behalf of the State of New York against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over the sale of the Indian Point nuclear power plant to subsidiaries of Holtec International for decommissioning.Filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on January 22, the suit challenges the NRC’s denial of New York’s petition for a hearing regarding the transfer of Indian Point’s licenses from owner Entergy to Holtec, as well as the NRC’s initial approval of the license transfer. The NRC approved the transfer in November 2020 while challenges from the state and other groups were still being adjudicated. The NRC issued its order denying New York’s petition to intervene on January 15.The transfer of ownership of the plant from Entergy to Holtec is targeted to occur after Indian Point-3 shuts down in April 2021. Indian Point-2 permanently ceased operations in April 2020, and Indian Point-1 has been shut down since 1974. The pressurized-water reactors are located in Buchanan, N.Y., approximately 24 miles north of New York City.Go to Article
Fuel innovation: Powering nuclear modernizationToday’s U.S. commercial nuclear power plants are fueled with uranium dioxide pressed into cylindrical ceramic pellets—and have been for decades. These pellets are stacked inside long fuel rods made of a zirconium alloy cladding. Innovation in nuclear fuel, however, can improve safety, reduce operating costs, and further enable the development of a new generation of non-light-water reactors.Go to Article
Searching for lost revenue from shut-down nuclear plants, NY law allows towns to assess waste storageIndian Point nuclear power plant. Photo: Entergy NuclearCommunities across the United States where nuclear power plants have been shut down face huge gaps in tax revenues, sometimes in the tens of millions of dollars. States such as New Jersey, Illinois, Wisconsin, and California are watching events in New York now that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed a new law that says cities can “assess the economic value of storing waste” on sites where nuclear plants once operated, as reported by Bloomberg.Go to Article
Palisades license transfer request submitted to NRCThe Palisades nuclear plant will be permanently retired in the spring of next year. Photo: Entergy NuclearEntergy Corporation and Holtec International have jointly submitted an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for approval of the transfer of the licenses for the Palisades nuclear plant, in Covert, Mich., to Holtec, following the plant’s permanent shutdown and defueling in the spring of 2022.The application, dated December 23, also requests approval of the license transfer of Entergy’s decommissioned Big Rock Point facility near Charlevoix, Mich., where only the independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) remains.Go to Article
NRC passes on Pilgrim Watch’s license petitionThe Pilgrim nuclear power plant was shut down in May 2019. Photo: Entergy EnergyThe Nuclear Regulatory Commission has denied a request by the antinuclear group Pilgrim Watch for a hearing in the transfer of the Pilgrim nuclear power plant’s license from Entergy to a subsidiary of Holtec International for decommissioning. The NRC commissioners issued the order denying Pilgrim Watch’s petition to intervene and request a hearing on November 12.Pilgrim Watch submitted its petition against the transfer of Pilgrim’s license from Entergy to Holtec Decommissioning International in February 2019. The NRC staff, however, approved the transfer in August 2019, while the petition was still under review. NRC regulations allow staff to approve a license transfer under the condition that the commissioners may later move to “rescind, modify, or condition the approved transfer based on the outcome of any post-effectiveness hearing on the license transfer application.”A separate petition against the license transfer submitted by the state of Massachusetts was withdrawn in June, following a settlement agreement between the state and Holtec.Pilgrim permanently ceased operations in May 2019. Holtec plans to decommission the plant (with the exception of the independent spent fuel storage installation) on an eight-year schedule to permit partial site release by the NRC.Go to Article
Final outage completed at Palisades plantPalisades: The Covert, Mich., plant reentered commercial operation on October 21 for one last run. Photo: Entergy Nuclear.Entergy Corporation’s Palisades nuclear power plant returned to service on October 21, following the completion of the Covert, Mich., facility’s final refueling and maintenance outage, which began on August 30.The company invested more than $86.5 million during the outage, according to Entergy. The plant’s 600 full-time nuclear professionals worked with approximately 800 supplemental workers to replace reactor fuel and to inspect and upgrade hundreds of pipes, pumps, electrical components, and other equipment.Go to Article
Entergy takes net-zero pledge, teams with Mitsubishi to decarbonize with hydrogenPaul Browning, Mitsubishi Power, and Paul Hinnenkamp, Entergy, sign the joint agreement on September 23. Photo: EntergyNew Orleans–based Entergy Corporation last week announced a commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, joining a growing list of major energy companies to make that promise—including Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Southern Company, Xcel Energy, and Public Service Enterprise Group. And, like those companies, Entergy says that it sees nuclear playing an important role in the realization of that goal.Go to Article
When a nuclear plant closesTheresa Knickerbocker, the mayor of the village of Buchanan, N.Y., where the Indian Point nuclear power plant is located, is not happy. What has gotten Ms. Knickerbocker’s ire up is the fact that Indian Point’s Unit 2 was closed on April 30, and Unit 3 is scheduled to close in 2021. The village, population 2,300, is about 1.3 square miles total, with the Indian Point site comprising 240 acres along the Hudson River, 30 miles upstream of Manhattan. Unit 2 was a 1,028-MWe pressurized water reactor; Unit 3 is a 1,041-MWe PWR.The nuclear plant provides the revenue for half of Buchanan’s annual $6-million budget, Knickerbocker told Nuclear News. That’s $3 million in tax revenues each year that eventually will go away. How will that revenue be replaced? Where will the replacement power come from?Go to Article