Millstone Nuclear Power Plant | |
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Millstone Nuclear Power Plant
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Country | United States |
Location | Waterford, Connecticut |
Coordinates | 41°18′43″N 72°10′7″W / 41.31194°N 72.16861°WCoordinates: 41°18′43″N 72°10′7″W / 41.31194°N 72.16861°W |
Status | Operational |
Commission date | Unit 2: December 26, 1975 Unit 3: April 23, 1986 |
Construction cost | Unit 2: $424 million Unit 3: $3.77 billion |
Operator(s) | Dominion Resources |
Nuclear power station | |
Reactor type | PWR |
Reactor supplier | Unit 2: Combustion Engineering Unit 3:Westinghouse |
Cooling source | Long Island Sound |
Cooling towers | no |
Power generation | |
Units operational | Unit 2: 882 MW Unit 3: 1,155 MW |
Units decommissioned | Unit 1 |
Nameplate capacity | 2,037 MW |
Average generation | 16,385 GWh |
Website Millstone |
The Millstone Nuclear Power Station is the only nuclear power generation site in Connecticut and the only multi unit nuclear plant in New England. It is located at a former quarry (from which it takes its name) in Waterford.
Following a Time magazine cover story on safety issues at Millstone, all three units were shut down. Units two and three were restarted and are still operating at a combined output rating of 2020 electrical megawatts, or MWe; unit one did not restart, permanently ceasing operations in July 1998.
The Millstone site covers about 500 acres (2 km²). The power generation complex was built by a consortium of utilities, using Niantic Bay (which is connected to Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean) as a source of coolant water.
Since opening in the 1970s, the plant has had numerous safety-related shutdowns and at times been placed on enhanced examination status by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
In 1999 Northeast Utilities, the plant's operator at the time, agreed to pay $10 million USD in fines for 25 counts of lying to federal investigators and for having falsified environmental reports. Its subsidiary, Northeast Nuclear Energy Company, paid an additional $5 million for having made 19 false statements to federal regulators regarding the promotion of unqualified plant operators between 1992 and 1996.
Millstone Units 2 and 3, both pressurized water reactors (one from Westinghouse and one from Combustion Engineering), were sold to Dominon Resources by Northeast Utilities in 2000 and continue to operate.