Widows Creek Power Plant
Encyclopedia
Widows Creek Power Plant (also known as the Widows Creek Fossil Plant) is a major 1600-MWe
coal-fired power station
, 4.8 miles (7.7 km) east of Stevenson
, Alabama
USA
. The plant, operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority
, generates about nine billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year. It has one of the tallest chimneys in the world at 305 metres (1,000.7 ft), which was built in 1977.
units were built between 1952 and 1954. Two more units (575 and 550 MWe name-plate capacity) were added in 1961 and 1965.
, cadmium
, molybdenum
and selenium
) into the creek of the same name on the property, inundating it with an ashlike substance.
MWE
MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...
coal-fired power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
, 4.8 miles (7.7 km) east of Stevenson
Stevenson, Alabama
Stevenson is a city in Jackson County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 1,770.-Geography:Stevenson is located at ....
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The plant, operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
, generates about nine billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year. It has one of the tallest chimneys in the world at 305 metres (1,000.7 ft), which was built in 1977.
History
Initially, six identical 140-MWeMWE
MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...
units were built between 1952 and 1954. Two more units (575 and 550 MWe name-plate capacity) were added in 1961 and 1965.
January 2009 gypsum slurry spill
On January 9, 2009, the plant experienced a dam break on a gypsum slurry pont, and spilled up to 10000 gallons (37.9 m³) of waste (possibly including boronBoron
Boron is the chemical element with atomic number 5 and the chemical symbol B. Boron is a metalloid. Because boron is not produced by stellar nucleosynthesis, it is a low-abundance element in both the solar system and the Earth's crust. However, boron is concentrated on Earth by the...
, cadmium
Cadmium
Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, bluish-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Similar to zinc, it prefers oxidation state +2 in most of its compounds and similar to mercury it shows a low...
, molybdenum
Molybdenum
Molybdenum , is a Group 6 chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42. The name is from Neo-Latin Molybdaenum, from Ancient Greek , meaning lead, itself proposed as a loanword from Anatolian Luvian and Lydian languages, since its ores were confused with lead ores...
and selenium
Selenium
Selenium is a chemical element with atomic number 34, chemical symbol Se, and an atomic mass of 78.96. It is a nonmetal, whose properties are intermediate between those of adjacent chalcogen elements sulfur and tellurium...
) into the creek of the same name on the property, inundating it with an ashlike substance.
EPA compliance agreement
On April 14, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with the Tennessee Valley Authority to resolve alleged Clean Air Act violations at 11 of its coal-fired plants in Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Under the terms of the agreement, the entire Widows Creek plant will be affected:- Units 1–6 will be retired in stages of two units per year, beginning by July 31, 2013 and ending by July 31, 2015
- Units 7 & 8 will be fitted with selective catalytic reductionSelective catalytic reductionSelective catalytic reduction is a means of converting nitrogen oxides, also referred to as with the aid of a catalyst into diatomic nitrogen , , and water, . A gaseous reductant, typically anhydrous ammonia, aqueous ammonia or urea, is added to a stream of flue or exhaust gas and is absorbed...
(SCR) devices to reduce their emissions of NOxNOxNOx is a generic term for the mono-nitrogen oxides NO and NO2 . They are produced from the reaction of nitrogen and oxygen gases in the air during combustion, especially at high temperatures...
