US utility Exelon has launched a series of power uprates of its reactors, which in total will add between 1300 and 1500 MWe of additional generating capacity, equivalent to a new reactor, within eight years.
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.jpg "Quad Cities (Exelon)") |
| An uprate at Quad Cities is the first of many planned (Image: Exelon) |
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The first of the uprates - adding a further 38 MWe of capacity at the Quad Cities plant in Illinois - was officially confirmed last week following equipment upgrades at the plant.
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Uprate projects are also听underway at Dresden and LaSalle in Illinois as well as the Limerick and Peach Bottom plans in Pennsylvania. These uprates are expected to account for almost one-quarter of the new generating capacity. Additional uprate projects at nine other Exelon reactors, beginning in 2010, will add the remainder of the new capacity by 2017.
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Exelon said assuming an additional 1500 MWe of capacity were added, the uprates "would displace 8 million tonnes of carbon emissions annually that would otherwise come from burning fossil fuels."
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Charles Pardee, Exelon Nuclear's president and chief nuclear officer, said: "With these uprates, we will be able to produce the equivalent output of a new advanced nuclear reactor, and we'll bring it to market in a timeframe commensurate with the fastest new construction." He added, "These uprates are a critical component of Exelon 2020, the company's plan to eliminate the equivalent of its 2001 carbon footprint by 2020."
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Pardee noted, "We have a proven record of achieving additional output at our plants through equipment upgrades and efficiency improvements. Nuclear uprates are safe, economical and add to the long-term safety and improved efficiency of a nuclear plant."
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Uprates and upgrades over the past decade have already added some 1100 MWe of additional capacity at Exelon's plants, the company said.
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Uprate options
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According to Exelon, "Uprate projects improve the efficiency and increase electricity output of a nuclear generating unit through upgrades to plant equipment. The projects take advantage of new production and measurement technologies, new materials and learning from a half-century of nuclear power operations."
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The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission NRC, which oversees uprate projects, recognises three categories of power uprates:听
- 'Measurement uncertainty recapture' power uprates, which involve implementing enhanced techniques for calculating reactor power and can typically increase reactor capacity by up to 2%;
听 - 'Stretch' power uprates, which usually involve changes to instrumentation settings but are within the design capacity of the plant and can typically add up to about 7% capacity; and
听 - 'Extended' power uprates, which involve significant modifications to major plant equipment and can result in up to 20% capacity increases.
Since 1977, the NRC has approved some 124 nuclear power plant uprates, representing about 5640 MWe of added capacity.
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