Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station
Closed nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, United States / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station (commonly abbreviated as TMI) is a closed nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island[lower-alpha 1] in Pennsylvania on the Susquehanna River just south of Harrisburg. It has two separate units, TMI-1 (owned by Constellation Energy) and TMI-2 (owned by EnergySolutions).[6]
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station | |
---|---|
Official name | Exelon Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station |
Country | United States |
Location | Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania |
Coordinates | 40°9′14″N 76°43′29″W |
Status | Being decommissioned |
Construction began | Unit 1: May 18, 1968 Unit 2: November 1, 1969 |
Commission date | Unit 1: September 2, 1974 Unit 2: December 30, 1978 |
Decommission date | Unit 1: September 20, 2019 Unit 2: March 28, 1979 |
Construction cost | $1.557 billion (2007 USD)[1] ($2.00 billion in 2023 dollars[2]) |
Owner(s) | Unit 1: Constellation Energy Unit 2: EnergySolutions |
Operator(s) | Constellation Energy |
Employees | 725 (2017)[3] |
Nuclear power station | |
Reactor type | PWR |
Reactor supplier | Babcock & Wilcox |
Cooling towers | 4 × Natural Draft |
Cooling source | Susquehanna River |
Thermal capacity | 1 × 2568 MWth |
Power generation | |
Units operational | 1 × 819 MW |
Make and model | B&W LLP (DRYAMB) |
Units decommissioned | 1 × 880 MW |
Nameplate capacity | 819 MW |
Capacity factor | 95.65% (2017) 73.25% (lifetime) |
Annual net output | 7.3 TWh (2018) 245.12 TWh (lifetime)[4] |
External links | |
Website | www |
Commons | Related media on Commons |
The plant was the site of the most significant accident in United States commercial nuclear energy when, on March 28, 1979, TMI-2 suffered a partial meltdown. According to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) report, the accident resulted in no deaths or injuries to plant workers or in nearby communities.[7] Follow-up epidemiology studies did not find causality between the accident and any increase in cancers.[8][9][10][11] One work-related death has occurred on-site during decommissioning.[12]
The reactor core of TMI-2 has since been removed from the site, but the site has not been fully decommissioned.[13] In July 1998, Amergen Energy (now Exelon Generation) agreed to purchase TMI-1 from General Public Utilities for $100 million.[14]
The plant was originally built by General Public Utilities Corporation, later renamed GPU Incorporated.[15] The plant was operated by Metropolitan Edison Company (Met-Ed), a subsidiary of the GPU Energy division. In 2001, GPU Inc. merged with FirstEnergy Corporation.[16] On December 18, 2020, FirstEnergy transferred Unit 2's license to EnergySolutions' subsidiary, TMI-2 Solutions, after receiving approval from the NRC.[17]
Exelon was operating Unit 1 at a financial loss since 2015.[18] In 2017, the company said it would consider ceasing operations at Unit 1 because of high costs unless there was action from the Pennsylvania government.[19][20] Unit 1 officially shut down at noon on September 20, 2019.[21]
Unit 1 decommissioning is expected to be completed in 2079 and will cost $1.2 billion.[22][23] Unit 2, which has been dormant since the accident in 1979, is expected to close in 2052.[24]