when was the last nuclear power plant built in the us
October 19, 2016
title: Nuclear power in the United States text: to be decommissioned, on October 24, 2016. Another five aging reactors were permanently closed in 2013 and 2014 before their licenses expired because of high maintenance and repair costs at a time when natural gas prices have fallen: San Onofre 2 and 3 in California, Crystal River 3 in Florida, Vermont Yankee in Vermont, and Kewaunee in Wisconsin, and New York State is seeking to close Indian Point in Buchanan, 30 miles from New York City. Most reactors began construction by 1974; following the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 and changing economics, many planned projects were canceled. More than title: Nuclear power in the United States text: 1976, 13 years after geologists discovered it was built on a fault (the Little Salmon Fault). Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant was completed but never operated commercially as an authorized Emergency Evacuation Plan could not be agreed on due the political climate after the Three Mile Island accident and Chernobyl disaster. The last permanent closure of a US nuclear power plant was in 1997. US nuclear reactors were originally licensed to operate for 40-year periods. In the 1980s, the NRC determined that there were no technical issues that would preclude longer service. Over half of US nuclear reactors are over 30 title: Nuclear power plant text: have been abandoned due to cost overruns and the bankruptcy of Westinghouse Electric Company (who designed and was building the reactors) in March 2017. The two new Vogtle reactors, and the two new reactors at Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station, represented the first nuclear power construction projects in the United States since the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979. The UK government has given the go-ahead for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. Several countries have begun thorium-based nuclear power programs. Thorium is four times more abundant in the earth's crust than uranium. Over 60% of thorium's ore title: Nuclear power in the United States text: by the NRC, but are not operating. The American Centrifuge Plant in Piketown, Ohio broke ground in 2007, but stopped construction in 2009. The Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility in Bonneville County, Idaho was licensed in 2011, but construction is on hold. Previously (2008), demonstration activities were underway in Oak Ridge, Tennessee for a future centrifugal enrichment plant. The new plant would have been called the American Centrifuge Plant, at an estimated cost of 2.3 billion USD. As of September 30, 2015, the DOE is ending its contract with the American Centrifuge Project and has stopped funding the project. Nuclear reprocessing title: Nuclear power in the United States text: 100 orders for nuclear power reactors, many already under construction, were canceled in the 1970s and 1980s, bankrupting some companies. Up until 2013, there had also been no ground-breaking on new nuclear reactors at existing power plants since 1977. Then in 2012, the NRC approved construction of four new reactors at existing nuclear plants. Construction of the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Generating Station Units 2 and 3 began on March 9, 2013 but was abandoned on July 31, 2017. On March 12, 2013 construction began on the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Units 3 and 4, but has been stalled as