McGuire Nuclear Power Plant-
The McGuire nuclear power plant is located along Lake Norman in Huntersville, North Carolina. The McGuire nuclear power plant began producing energy in 1981. It is one of the three operational nuclear power plants in the state. Duke Energy owns the plant, and the company also created Lake Norman in 1963 to act as coolers for the nuclear reactors. McGuire pulls about one million gallons of water from Lake Norman every minute to cool the outsides of the extremely hot pipes used in the generation process.
McGuire has two pressurized water reactors. The plant can produce a total of 2,250 megawatts of power with 17,514 GWh. The McGuire Station can produce enough power to maintain about under one half of the total nuclear power available to the state of North Carolina. One unique aspect of the McGuire plant is that it does not have cooling towers, unlike most power plants.
McGuire has two pressurized water reactors. The plant can produce a total of 2,250 megawatts of power with 17,514 GWh. The McGuire Station can produce enough power to maintain about under one half of the total nuclear power available to the state of North Carolina. One unique aspect of the McGuire plant is that it does not have cooling towers, unlike most power plants.
As far as containment type goes, the McGuire plant uses a wet, ice condenser. The net capacity for the plant is 1,100 megawatts. The plant's power serves the largest city in North Carolina, Charlotte, as well as most of Mecklenburg County and the surrounding areas. Both reactors at McGuire are made of 8.5 inch steel and the containment building housing each reactor that sit on an eight-foot thick concrete base resting on bedrock. The plant is made to withstand a 7.3 magnitude earthquake, which is much more powerful than any earthquake that has occurred in the Mecklenburg County area. Each building is made of concrete three feet thick with a three-quarter inch thick steel liner.
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