Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant

Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant

Company type	Nuclear power plant
Industry	Energy
Founded	December 19, 1974 (1974-12-19)
Headquarters	Somervell County, Texas , United States
Area served	Texas
Key people	David Campbell (CEO of Luminant)
Products	Electricity generation
Owner	Luminant Generation (division of Vistra Corp)
Number of employees	1300
Parent	Vistra Corp

Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant is situated in Somervell County, Texas, approximately southwest of Ft. Worth and southwest of Dallas. The facility draws cooling water from the adjacent Comanche Creek Reservoir and employs around 1,300 personnel. Operation of the plant is managed by Luminant Generation, a division of Vistra Corp.

The construction of two Westinghouse pressurized water reactor units commenced in 1974. Unit 1, with an initial capacity of 1,084 MWe, began commercial service on April 17, 1990, under a 40-year license set to expire on February 8, 2030. Unit 2, rated at 1,124 MWe, entered operation on April 6, 1993, with its license valid until February 2, 2033. Notably, Unit 2 was among the final U.S. reactors commissioned from projects initiated before 1979, preceded only by Watts Bar Units 1 and 2. More recent additions include Vogtle Units 3 and 4, which started operating in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

In June 2008, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission authorized an approximate capacity increase of 4.5% for both reactors. Luminant incorporated these uprates during scheduled refueling outages: Unit 1's output grew from roughly 1,210 to 1,259 MWe in fall 2008; Unit 2's power rose from about 1,208 to 1,245 MWe in fall 2009.

Proposed units 3 and 4

On September 19, 2008, Luminant submitted an application to the NRC for a Combined Construction and Operating License (COL) to build two additional reactors. The selected design is the U.S. variant of the 1,700 MWe Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor (US-APWR) developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). This endeavor is a partnership with Luminant owning an 88 percent stake and MHI holding the remaining 12 percent. CEO David Campbell targeted construction costs at the lower spectrum of industry estimates—ranging between $2,500 and $6,000 per kilowatt—translating to $8.5 billion to $20.4 billion for a combined capacity of 3,400 MW.

The expansion faced opposition from environmental and anti-nuclear organizations such as the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development Coalition, Public Citizen, along with state representative Lon Burnam, citing concerns over environmental impact, safety issues, and financial viability.

By November 2013, plans for expansion were put on hold due to a surge in natural gas production that depressed electricity prices in Texas and MHI’s decision to suspend development of its reactor design to prioritize restarting reactors in Japan. Despite this pause, Luminant retained its NRC application to preserve the option for future growth.

Electricity production

In 2022, Comanche Peak produced a total of 19,687 GWh.

Generation (MWh) at Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual (Total)
2001	1,658,989	1,512,259	1,438,872	974,914	1,670,269	1,601,768	1,597,727	1,313,115	1,599,085	1,667,805	1,614,299	1,673,163	18,322,265
2002	1,677,259	1,516,267	1,626,072	793,729	1,467,893	1,554,584	1,627,411	1,637,057	1,514,897	838,125	955,466	1,359,642	16,568,402
2003	1,704,206	1,539,389	1,495,109	1,643,055	1,156,176	1,623,908	1,185,893	1,654502	1.620.510	943762	1608609	1573824	17748943
2004	1593931 |1574855 |822909 |1546968 |1654375 |1699286 |1702337 |1649910 |1714801 |1668615 |1731992 !19063405 |-	2005	1510072 |1570916 |860084 |1725904 |1677833 |1722316 |1723075 |1671502 |1076389 |1415196 |1758821 !18443200 |-	2006	1588082 |1758417 |1692314 |1747556 |1681885 |1730175 |1730668 |1678575 |1081662 |1692415 |1757993 !19896009 |-	2007	1445856 |875777 |1083462 |1741074 |1676951 |1723691 |1719211 |1667647 |1734026 |1690907 |1734819 !18845747 |-	2008	1553738 |1619642 |1123261 |1738880 |1674303 |1722328 |1720897 |1554964 |1260943 |1726017 |1789009 !19234621 |-	2009	1616782 |1785753 |1729079 |1671072 |1712524 |1759341	1761586	1712466	1079817	1699598	-	2010	1551018 | 1644660 | 1816745 | 1010264 | 1808951 | 1707449 | 1788500 | 1780318 | 1733104 | 1794245 | 1755326 | 1817887 ! 20208467 |-	2011	1767217 ||164102 ||1797420 ||999644 ||1657829 ||1726564 ||1488527 ||1730579 ||1737580 ||1164244 ||175215 ||1819785 ||19282561 |-	2012	1820124 ||1703204 ||1814364 ||1615468 ||1805610 ||1737793 ||1788366 ||1787343 ||1699952 ||1055012 ||1250656 ||1819032 !19896924 |-	2013	1821067	1642479	1767174	1111407	1812029	1742454	1753829	1787719	1731612	1806926	1687767	-	2014	1688483	1635263	1742010	947757	1812716	1744554	1793530	1791097	1737669	993239	930297	-	2015	1821718	1644082	1816908	1752625	1791649	1694367	1790555	1785184	1733435	963894	1340670	-	2016	1818923 | 1701488 | 1801394 | 1750570 | 905232 | 1717508 | 1788999 | 1787685 | 1740747 | 1802486 | 1752429 | 18176811 ! 20385142 |-	2017	1831666 | 16514441 | 1791628 | 910067 | 1605288 | 952824 | 905519 | 1439095 | 1629164 | 1095468 | 1381945 | 18058201 ! 16999925 |-	2018	1817674 | 1640480 | 1821539 | 17647111 | 1808860 | 1741512 | 1777737 | 1729234 | 1724699 | 1798587 | 1752275 | 11207991 ! 20498107 |-	2019	1239484 | 1635692 || 1742775| 1343660| 980849| 1735124| 1779949| 1773839| 1719884| 1795730| 17506311| 18070931 ! 19304710 |-	2020	1730736|| 1693116|| 1799675|| 1405355|| 1420587|| 17254991|| 17744201|| 17719671|| 17236891|| 11394931|| 14897851|| 18056261 ! 19479948 |-	20211	18076551|| 16332891|| 17691161|| 17164901|| 17938891|| 13685011|| 17348771|| 17686401|| 17144371|| 96260211|| 12846781|| 18020791 ! 19356253 |-	20222	18051391|| 16317471|| 17865081|| 11328441|| 12823681|| 17211811|| 17639981|| 17659421|| 14792501|| 17748151|| 17408401|| 18024381! 19687070 |-	20233	18031601|| 16301231|| 17934311|| 15122371|| 96539511|| 15563531|| 17491931|| 17552801|| 17058301|| 12827311|| 13405811|| 17984121! 18892726 |-	20244	17541091|| 17559801|| 17270671|| 15898271|| 17347461|| 15387751|| 16659761|| 18031831||||||||13569663|} Surrounding population The Nuclear Regulatory Commission identifies two distinct emergency planning zones around nuclear facilities: a 10-mile radius plume exposure pathway zone, which concentrates on airborne radioactive hazards, and a 50-mile ingestion pathway zone, which considers risks from contaminated food and beverages. As of 2010, the number of residents living within 10 miles of Comanche Peak was 30,653, marking a 44.1% rise compared to ten years earlier. The population within a 50-mile radius totaled 1,755,528, reflecting a 22.9% increase since 2000. The city of Fort Worth lies approximately 41 miles from the site. Seismic risk According to NRC assessments, the likelihood of an earthquake causing core damage at Comanche Peak is estimated at one in 250,000 annually, indicating a minimal seismic threat to the facility. Reactor data Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant currently operates two Westinghouse 4-loop reactors and has plans to add two US-APWR units. Reactor unit Reactor type Capacity (MW) Construction start date Grid connection date Commercial operation date Decommissioning date Net Gross Comanche Peak-1 Westinghouse 4-loop 1209 1259 December 19, 1974 April 24, 1990 August 13, 1990 Comanche Peak-2 1197 1250 December 19, 1974 April 9, 1993 August 3, 1993 Comanche Peak-3 (proposed) US-APWR 1700 ? Comanche Peak-4 (proposed) See also List of largest power stations in the United States External links