Although some foreign nuclear power plants have as many as eight reactors, only three U.S.
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The reactor provides heat to make steam, which drives a turbine that, in turn, drives the generator that produces electricity. Each nuclear reactor located at a commercial nuclear power plant is unique and has its own personnel and equipment. A power plant may contain nuclear as well as non-nuclear electricity generating units. The term power plant refers to an entire facility. Many nuclear power plants have more than one reactor In 2021, Grand Coulee generated about 18 million megawatthours of electricity, while Palo Verde generated about 32 million megawatthours. Nuclear power plants generally use more of their electricity generating capacity on an annual basis than hydropower facilities. The Palo Verde nuclear power plant in Arizona, with three reactors, has the second-largest generating capacity-3,937 MW. The Grand Coulee Dam in Washington has the most electricity generation capacity of any electric power plant in the United States-7,079 megawatts (MW) net summer capacity.
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Some reactors also increased annual electricity generation by shortening the length of time reactors are offline for refueling. electricity generation from 1990 through 2021. These uprates, combined with high-capacity utilization rates (or capacity factors), helped nuclear power plants maintain a consistent share of about 20% of total annual U.S. Power plant uprates-modifications to increase capacity-at nuclear power plants have made it possible for the entire operating nuclear reactor fleet to maintain a relatively consistent total electricity generation capacity. In 2013 through 2019, annual nuclear generation capacity and electricity generation increased each year (except in 2017) even as the number of operating reactors declined. At the end of 2021, there were 93 operating reactors with a combined generation capacity of about 95,492 MW. nuclear electricity generation capacity peaked in 2012 at about 102,000 MW when there were 104 operating nuclear reactors. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as of November 2021, there were 23 shut down commercial nuclear power reactors at 19 sites in various stages of decommissioning.
The newest reactor to enter service, Watts Bar Unit 2, came online in 2016-the first reactor to come online since 1996 when the Watts Bar Unit 1 came online. The oldest operating reactor, Nine Mile Point Unit 1 in New York, began commercial operation in December 1969.
The average age of these nuclear reactors is about 40 years old. At the end of 2021, the United States had 93 operating commercial nuclear reactors at 55 nuclear power plants in 28 states. nuclear industry?Įlectricity generation from commercial nuclear power plants in the United States began in 1958.
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