James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant

Overview

Location: Oswego County
Owner: Entergy Corporation
Type: Mark I Boiling Water Reactor*
Age: 38 years in operation
Population within 50 miles: 909,798
Spent fuel in pools: ~434 tons

Mark I reactors like FitzPatrick have very small containment structures, making them especially vulnerable to large-scale accidents. In 1986, Dr. Harold Denton, an official at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) acknowledged they had as high as a 90% chance of failure if challenged by severe accident conditions. FitzPatrick is the only Mark I in the US that does not contain a hardened vent system as was recommended by the NRC.

General Electric Mark I Boiling Water Reactors have been known to have flawed containment designs since the 1970s, when scientists at both the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and GE raised concerns that their containment structures would not successfully withstand a nuclear accident. In 1989, the NRC advised Mark I operators to install a hardened vent, which was to be used as last resort if an accident occurred to relieve pressure and prevent hydrogen explosions within the reactor. In March of 2011, the Mark I design and the venting system were put to the test during the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe. In each of the three reactors that were online at the time of the accident, the containment system failed.

New York State Nuclear Neighbors
updated 01/2014 by SaneEnergy