After 45 Years, Three Mile Island Shuts Down

"Boxer_4" (Boxer_4) 09/20/2019 at 00:30 • Filed to: None

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Probably best known for the 1979 accident, TMI is shutting down today after 45 years of generating electricity for the central Pennsylvania region. With only one reactor operational since the accident, it was no longer economical to run in recent years.

Decommissioning will likely take place over several decades. Still I’m going to miss seeing the cooling towers in operation.

For Sweden > Boxer_4 09/20/2019 at 12:39

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Oh boy more electricity from coal and gas!

NKato > Boxer_4 09/20/2019 at 12:41

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Good. The placement of the plant on an island, in a river a few miles from a river delta, is an atrocious decision to make. Puts it at risk of possible tsunami and severe storm surges, and with the rise of the sea level due to glacial melt, everything within a few meters of the current sea level is at risk in the next 50-80 years.

Azrek > Boxer_4 09/20/2019 at 12:42

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What was built to replace it? Did power prices go up or down? 

Azrek > NKato 09/20/2019 at 12:47

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Water is used to cool the plant, so it made sense to be near a river. It also can be used to attract marine life. We have that here in Florida. Manatees love the warmed water from the plant and thus a preserve was founded. 

facw > For Sweden 09/20/2019 at 12:47

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Maybe not? Wind power prices now lower than the cost of natural gas

And coal is really not a popular choice for new energy, though maybe this helps existing plants hold on a little longer.

NKato > Azrek 09/20/2019 at 12:49

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I get it, yeah. But let’s not have another Fukushima where the reactors get flooded yeah?

For Sweden > facw 09/20/2019 at 12:51

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Wind power is not a source of base load electricity generation.

Boxer_4 > Azrek 09/20/2019 at 12:51

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TMI was only putting out 805 MW at the end.  By comparison, the 4 other nuclear plants in PA were putting out between 1,800 to 2,500 MW each. Two of them are fairly close (on the Susquehanna River).   Cheaper natural gas fired plants that are already existing are picking up what little slack there will be. The biggest issue brought about by this change will be employment in the immediate area, and even that shouldn’t be too big.  

Boxer_4 > For Sweden 09/20/2019 at 12:53

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PA still has four  more nuclear generating stations. TMI was only a small fraction of the total output of the five.

Boxer_4 > Azrek 09/20/2019 at 12:55

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O ffshore of TMI was a popular fishing spot during the winter months, so I’ve heard.

Spanfeller is a twat > For Sweden 09/20/2019 at 12:56

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Batteries can help even if its not as efficient

facw > For Sweden 09/20/2019 at 13:00

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It can be... You need to have some sort of energy storage, but there are a lot of options for that (same story with solar, which as the article notes is also cheaper than gas right not).

Chuckles > NKato 09/20/2019 at 13:01

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Three mile island is at least 300 feet above sea level and very far from the ocean. Not much tsunami risk in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. 

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Boxer_4 09/20/2019 at 13:01

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Pilgrim plant is getting taken out of service too. It’s almost as if rapidly building these things during an unprecedented economic boom then cutting upkeep and pe rsonell bud gets isn't good for keeping them running after 50 years

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Boxer_4 09/20/2019 at 13:08

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My grandfather invested in 3 mile island instead of buying 20 acres on west cliff in Santa Cruz CA. He lost his money on 3 mile island, I would be a millionaire right now if he had bought property. 

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Boxer_4 09/20/2019 at 13:52

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My favorite golf course is the one just adjacent to TMI, with views of both the cooling towers and the MDT runways. It’s going to be a weird transition  for the area, I think. 

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > NKato 09/20/2019 at 13:53

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To be fair, all of the east coast nuclear plants (Limerick, Peach Bottom just to name two ) are on rivers. 

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > Chuckles 09/20/2019 at 14:14

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And if a tsunami hits Harrisburg (as a Jersey) resident, I'd say we're royally screwed. 

Boxer_4 > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 09/20/2019 at 14:47

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TMI is an unusual case. If the 1979 accident never happened and both reactors were operational, TMI would likely still be viable. The issue is TMI is too costly to run for the amount of  output. 

ttyymmnn > Boxer_4 09/20/2019 at 15:02

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subexpression > Boxer_4 09/20/2019 at 21:02

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Robert X Cringely has written a lot about the accident. If you hunt you can find his explanations and reflections on it from having worked the investigation.

Aside from historical aspects , the Three Mile Island shutdown is probably kind of a non-event for most people outside the area , similar to any other large business shutting down . However, more and more nuclear plants are coming up on the end of their designed lifespan s, and the replacement plans I hear about always seem to be a combi nation of increasing the output from other (mostly fossil fuel) power plants and adding new natural gas plants . It adds up.

Boxer_4 > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 09/23/2019 at 20:16

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I studied at Penn State Harrisburg for 2 years  and had a similar view.  I miss it some days.