WNP-3 and WNP-5

WNP-3/5
View of the plant in 2006.
Location of WNP-3/5 in Washington (state)
Official name	Nuclear Project Nos. 3 and 5
Country	United States
Location	Near Elma, Grays Harbor County, Washington
Coordinates
Status	canceled
Construction began	1977
Commission date	N/A
Owner(s)	Washington Public Power Supply System
Nuclear power station
Reactor type	PWR System 80
Reactor supplier	Combustion Engineering
Power generation
Units planned	2 × 1240 MW
Nameplate capacity	2480 MW

Washington Nuclear Project Nos. 3 and 5, abbreviated as WNP-3 and WNP-5 (collectively known as the Satsop Nuclear Power Plant) were two of the five nuclear power plants on which construction was started by the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) in order to meet projected electricity demand in the Pacific Northwest. WNP-1, WNP-2 and WNP-3 were part of the original 1968 plan, with WNP-4 (a twin to WNP-1 and located at the same site) and WNP-5 (a twin to WNP-3, in similar fashion) added in the early 1970s.

WNP-3 and WNP-5 are located on 1,600 acres (650 ha) on the Satsop Site near Elma in Grays Harbor County, Washington (N46° 57.536' W123° 28.163'). Today the site hosts the Satsop Development Park and the Grays Harbor Energy Center.

History

WPPSS applied for a construction and operation permit in 1973, and both WNP-3 and WNP-5 started construction in 1977. Cost overruns led to major management changes at all five WPPSS nuclear plants in 1980. Bechtel was appointed the construction manager for WNP-1, 2 and 4 at Hanford and EBASCO brought in a new management team for WNP-3 and 5 at Elma.

WNP-3 was WPPSS's showcase project and construction advanced at an estimated rate of 2% per month led by the new management team brought in by EBASCO. But just a few years later, with the failure of WPPSS to sell nearly US$961,000,000 in bonds to complete the project, WNP-3 placed in an extended construction delay in July 1983 while nearly 76 percent complete. Construction on WNP-5 was terminated in January 1982 while only 16 percent complete. Of the original five proposed nuclear units, only WNP-2 was completed and put into operation.

Equipment at WNP-3 was preserved to allow a restart of construction if regional energy demand warranted it. In 1994, the WPPSS board adopted a resolution to terminate WNP-3, and preservation funding was discontinued in 1995. Construction Permit CPPR-154 was terminated in 1999 and the ownership of the site was transferred to the Satsop Redevelopment Project.

Since being abandoned, the site has served as the site for a number of movies such as The Hunger Games, Divergent, Transformers: Age of Extinction and a "Metal Church" video.

Under contemporary plans, none of the existing structures were slated for demolition, although some equipment (such as the WNP-3 turbine) was to be removed and existing buildings were to be reconfigured to support the conversion of the site to an industrial, business or research park. Approximately 22 acres (8.9 ha) of the site were retained by WPPSS for development of a combustion turbine electric generating plant, which later came to fruition as the combined-cycle Grays Harbor Energy Center. Grays Harbor provides 650 MW of electric generation and came on-line in 2008, with an additional 650 MW of generation approved but not yet constructed.

Design

WNP-3/5 would have been pressurized water reactors, with the nuclear steam supply system provided by Combustion Engineering. The architect/engineer for the plant was EBASCO, who also were responsible for plant construction.

Like contemporary C-E designs, the System-80 NSSS in each unit would have featured a two-loop design, with two steam generators, four reactor coolant pumps and one pressurizer to maintain reactor coolant system pressure. The System-80 NSSS was designed to be capable of burning mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel.

See also

• List of nuclear reactors