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Nuclear Power Continues To Break Records In Safety And Generation

This article is more than 3 years old.

Energy Northwest in Richland, WA, which operates the only nuclear power plant in the region, the Columbia Generating Station, has earned the American Public Power Association’s Safety Award of Excellence for safe operating practices in 2020. The agency earned first place in the category for utilities with 1 million to 3.9 million worker-hours.

It is always surprising to hear the public and anti-nuke activists repeating the willfully ignorant ideology that nuclear is unsafe. It turns out to be the safest of all energy sources by any measure and in any study.

At the same time, nuclear has the highest rate of electricity generation of any energy source, producing the amount of electricity it’s suppose to produce over 90% of the time even in years when they have outages for fuel replacement. Energy Northwest is usually over 95% capacity factor (cf = power produced over a year divided by the maximum power that could be produced). On the other hand, coal averages about 55%, natural gas about 60%, hydro about 44%, wind 35% and solar 25%. And nuclear takes so little fuel, produces so little waste, which we know what to do with, and just keeps going and going.

Energy Northwest also operates the White Bluffs Solar Station (38.7 kW with a cf = 15%), the Packwood Lake Hydroelectric Project (27.5 MW with a cf = 38%) and the Nine Canyon Wind Project (96 MW with a cf = 31%). The combined output of these non-fossil fuel systems exceeds 10 billion kWhrs/year, enough energy to power a city the size of Seattle, having a total capacity of 1,300 MW with an average combined capacity factor of >90%.

Washington State’s chamber of commerce, the Association of Washington Business, has also named Energy Northwest its Employer of the Year a few years ago.

“We are proud and thankful for this APPA recognition. Energy Northwest values employee safety above all else,” said Brad Sawatzke, Energy Northwest CEO. “We all recognize the importance of going home healthy to our families each day, and this drives our dedication to safety.” 

About 330 utilities from across the nation enters the annual safety awards. Entrants are placed in categories according to their number of worker-hours and ranked based on the most incident-free records during 2020. The incidence rate, used to judge entries, is based on the number of work-related reportable injuries or illnesses and the number of worker-hours during 2020, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

 “Utilities that receive an APPA Safety Award have demonstrated that they have made the health and safety of their employees a core value,” said Brandon Wylie, chair of APPA’s Safety Committee and Director of Training & Safety, during APPA’s annual Engineering & Operations Virtual Conference March 24. “Designing and maintaining a top-notch utility safety program takes a lot of hard work and commitment. These utilities and their communities should be very proud.” 

The Safety Awards have been held annually for the last 60 years. APPA is the voice of not-for-profit, community-owned utilities that power 2,000 towns and cities nationwide.

Energy Northwest also operates the White Bluffs Solar Station (38.7 kW with a cf = 15%), the Packwood Lake Hydroelectric Project (27.5 MW with a cf = 38%) and the Nine Canyon Wind Project (96 MW with a cf = 31%). The combined output of these non-fossil fuel systems exceeds 10 billion kWhrs/year, enough energy to power over a million homes, or a city the size of Seattle, having a total capacity of 1,300 MW with an average combined capacity factor of >90%.

Not only is Energy Northwest safe and productive, it’s part of a non-profit public agency, formed as a Washington State joint operating agency in 1957. Electricity from Columbia Generating Station is distributed to 92 utilities across the Pacific Northwest as part of the Bonneville Power Administration.

All for between 4.7 - 5.2 ¢/kWh now and for the next 30 years. Can’t get much more reliable, safe or cost-effective than that.

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