St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant
Encyclopedia
St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant is a twin nuclear power station located on Hutchinson Island, near Ft. Pierce, Florida in St. Lucie County
. Both units are Combustion Engineering
pressurized water reactor
s. Florida Power & Light
commissioned the station in 1976 and continues to operate the station.
Minor shares of Unit 2 are owned by the Florida Municipal Power Agency
(8.81%) and the Orlando Utilities Commission
(6.08%).
The plant contains two nuclear reactors in separate containment building
s. However, the plant does not have the classic hyperboloid cooling tower
s found at many inland reactor sites; instead, it uses nearby ocean water for coolant of the secondary system.
In 2003 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) extended the operating licenses of the St. Lucie units by twenty years, to March 1, 2036 for Unit 1 and April 6, 2043 for Unit 2.
defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16.1 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80.5 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16.1 km) of Saint Lucie was 206,596, an increase of 49.7 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80.5 km) was 1,271,947, an increase of 37.0 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Ft. Pierce (8 miles to city center) and West Palm Beach (42 miles to city center).
St. Lucie County, Florida
St. Lucie County is a county located in the state of Florida. The county seat is the city of Fort Pierce. In the year 2000, the population was 192,695. As of the year 2010, the United States Census Bureau sets the population at 277,789.- History :...
. Both units are Combustion Engineering
Combustion Engineering
Combustion Engineering was an American engineering firm and leading firm in the development of power systems in the United States with approximately 30,000 employees in about a dozen states at its peak. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, C-E owned over two dozen other companies including...
pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
s. Florida Power & Light
Florida Power & Light
Florida Power & Light Company, the principal subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc. , commonly referred to by its initials, FPL, is a Juno Beach, Florida-based power utility which serves roughly 4.4 million customers in Florida. FPL Group holds power generation assets in more than 20 U.S...
commissioned the station in 1976 and continues to operate the station.
Minor shares of Unit 2 are owned by the Florida Municipal Power Agency
Florida Municipal Power Agency
The Florida Municipal Power Agency is a nonprofit, wholesale electric utilities and associated services company that serves its 30 Florida municipal electric utility system members. Based in Tallahassee, with its operational offices in Orlando FMPA is a governmental entity, established as a...
(8.81%) and the Orlando Utilities Commission
Orlando Utilities Commission
The Orlando Utilities Commission is a municipally-owned public utility providing water and electric service to the citizens of Orlando, Florida and portions of adjacent unincorporated areas of Orange County, as well as St. Cloud, Florida, in Osceola County...
(6.08%).
The plant contains two nuclear reactors in separate containment building
Containment building
A containment building, in its most common usage, is a steel or reinforced concrete structure enclosing a nuclear reactor. It is designed, in any emergency, to contain the escape of radiation to a maximum pressure in the range of 60 to 200 psi...
s. However, the plant does not have the classic hyperboloid cooling tower
Cooling tower
Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely...
s found at many inland reactor sites; instead, it uses nearby ocean water for coolant of the secondary system.
In 2003 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
(NRC) extended the operating licenses of the St. Lucie units by twenty years, to March 1, 2036 for Unit 1 and April 6, 2043 for Unit 2.
Surrounding population
The Nuclear Regulatory CommissionNuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16.1 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80.5 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16.1 km) of Saint Lucie was 206,596, an increase of 49.7 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80.5 km) was 1,271,947, an increase of 37.0 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Ft. Pierce (8 miles to city center) and West Palm Beach (42 miles to city center).