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37-411: Its single Combustion Engineering pressurized water reactor weighs 425 tons and has steel walls 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches (220 mm) thick. The containment building is 116 feet (35 m) in diameter and 189 feet (58 m) tall, including the dome. Its concrete walls are 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 feet (1.1 m) thick with a 1 ⁄ 4 -inch-thick (6.4 mm) steel liner plate. The dome roof

74-590: A $ 550-million trust fund, paid for by Consumers Energy customers. In January 2024, the federal government was poised to offer Holtec International a $ 1.5 billion federal loan to restart the Palisades nuclear plant. The loan was reported at the time to potentially start as soon as February 2024. The conditional agreement was announced on March 27. If successful, Palisades would become the first U.S. nuclear reactor to restart after its fuel has been removed and its license revised to prohibit further operation. The plan for

111-649: A 28 by 26 foot opening through the 3.5-foot-thick (1.1 m) reinforced concrete wall. The removed units are stored in a large concrete building on plant property. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity. The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Palisades

148-527: A patented algorithm to allow higher power densities . Combustion also fabricated a number of the Westinghouse reactor vessels and steam generators at its Chattanooga manufacturing facility under contracts with the Westinghouse company. C-E maintained a sophisticated nuclear reactor operator training simulator at the Windsor facility for support for customers of its nuclear steam supply systems. In

185-543: A restart by Holtec International (based in Jupiter, Florida) got a boost after Wolverine Power Cooperative, a local power company, agreed to buy as much as 2/3 of the plant’s output starting as soon as late 2025, though additional hurdles, including sign off from federal nuclear regulators, remain. Holtec acquired the 800-megawatt power plant in 2022 after Entergy Corp. closed it due to financial reasons. In December 2023, Holtec International announced that it intended to build

222-624: A separate headquarters and support staff which coordinated each group's companies actions with the C-E Corporate support functions of Administration, Information Systems, Insurance, Treasury, Accounting, Audit, and Personnel. C-E had a large presence in Canada, including fossil and nuclear steam supply manufacturing facilities. A number of the Industrial Group companies had manufacturing facilities there as well, primarily located in

259-1472: A specialty scrap metal operation in Chattanooga); and was basically divided into three major sub-groups: Fossil, Nuclear, and Services (which included field erection, aftermarket spare parts, and engineering services). The Industrial Group included C-E Industrial Boiler (part of the original base of CE in East Chicago, IN and Detroit & Saginaw, MI), C-E Bauer (Pulp & Paper Equipment), C-E Raymond (Crushing and Conveying Equipment), C-E Air Preheater (Ljungström® technology), C-E Tyler Screening (Industrial Wire Screens), C-E Ehrsham (Conveyors & Grain Elevators). C-E Enterprise Manufacturing, C-E Tyler Elevator, CERREY, and other industrial supply companies. The Oil & Gas Group included such companies as C-E Natco, C-E Grey Tool, Beaumont Well Works, C-E Vetco, OilField Engineering, C-E Houston Forging, etc. The Refractories & Minerals Group included C-E Minerals, C-E Refractories, C-E Cast Industrial Products, C-E Building Products (C-E Aluminum Building Products, C-E Morgan, C-E Stanley Artex), Georgia Kaolin, Pryor-Giggey, C-E Transport, C-E Glass, C-E Hordis Bros. Glass, etc. The Instrumentation & Controls group included C-E Taylor Instruments, C-E Resource Recovery Systems, C-E Process Analytics (acquired from Bendix), et al. Each group had

296-440: Is 3 feet (0.91 m) thick. Access is via a personnel lock measuring 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) by 7 feet 8 inches (2.34 m). The Westinghouse Electric Company turbine generator can produce 725,000 kilowatts of electricity. Built between 1967 and 1970, Palisades was approved to operate at full power in 1973. On July 12, 2006, it was announced that the plant would be sold to Entergy. On April 11, 2007,

333-567: Is maintained and operated by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources , is located in the southwest corner of South Haven Township and the northwest corner of Covert Township , just north of the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant . The Van Buren County–owned North Point Conservation Area is located directly north of the park. The park has forested sand dunes , camping, and a swimming beach. Van Buren

370-714: The Great Depression , C-E formed a partnership with the Superheater Company. The Locomotive Superheater Company was founded in 1910 to further the use of superheated steam in locomotives . The Superheater Company's primary manufacturing facility was located in East Chicago, Indiana . In December 1948 stockholders approved a merger between the Combustion Engineering Company and Superheater Company. Following consolidation

407-557: The 1960s, and continuing through 1988, C-E acquired a number of companies, many not directly related to the core utility steam supply business. As a result, the company structure evolved so that it had five and later six major business groups or divisions. C-E Power Systems comprised the original utility steam supply components, C-E Industrial Group, C-E Lummus & Engineering Services Group, C-E Refractories & Minerals Group, C-E Oil & Gas Group, and last C-E Instrumentation & Controls Group were formed to provide management focus as

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444-410: The 46 Knox -class frigates built during the 1960s and 1970s were equipped with a 1,200- pound-per-square-inch (8,300 kPa) C-E power plant. C-E also was a leader in the development of large coal utility steam supply systems which were used worldwide. C-E pioneered the tangential firing process used in modern large pulverized coal utility boilers. C-E maintained a large coal burning test unit at

481-670: The Morgan Door Company. The company was acquired by Asea Brown Boveri in early 1990. The boiler and fossil fuel businesses were purchased by Alstom in 2000, and the nuclear business was purchased by Westinghouse Electric Company also in 2000. Combustion Engineering was organized in 1912 through the merger of the Grieve Grate Company and the American Stoker Company, two well-known manufacturers of fuel burning equipment. The company

518-576: The Santry family controlled the management of C-E. Joseph Santry was President of the company until 1963. Arthur Santry, Jr., Joseph's nephew, was named president in 1963 and Chairman of the C-E Board of Directors in 1982 and held both titles until he resigned his post as president in 1984. He remained as chairman until 1988. Charles Hugel was named President of C-E in 1984 and remained in that position until 1988 when he succeeded Mr. Santry as chairman of

555-717: The Type-E. During the 1920s, all of C-E's stokers were fabricated in manufacturing plants along the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh . In 1925 C-E entered the steam boiler business, beginning with a steam boiler installed at the Ford Motor Company's River Rouge Plant in Dearborn, MI . C-E also acquired two boiler companies in Chattanooga, TN to augment its manufacturing capabilities. During

592-580: The US Navy's " Nuclear Navy " nuclear submarines. Also located at the Windsor site was the prototype marine nuclear propulsion training facility known as S1C , which was designed and constructed by C-E adjacent to its main campus. The S1C prototype was operated by C-E for more than ten years as an R&D and Naval training facility. After expiration of C-E's contract, the S1C contract was subsequently awarded to Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL), who operated

629-585: The Windsor, Connecticut site which allowed the Power Systems Group to test changes to boiler air-flow and other critical boiler design factors. C-E's nuclear power activity began in 1955 under Arthur Santry Jr. The history of the C-E Windsor, Connecticut campus dates to the early development of the nuclear submarine . From the mid-1950s through the early 1960s, Combustion Engineering, under federal government contract, produced nuclear fuel for

666-498: The board. George Kimmel was named president and Chief Operating Officer in 1988 and remained in that position until the sale of the company to ABB in 1990. In 1990 C-E became a wholly owned subsidiary of ABB (Asea Brown Boveri), a Swiss-Swedish multinational conglomerate based in Zürich and one of the largest electrical engineering companies in the world. C-E's financial debt and lingering asbestos liability brought ABB to

703-446: The brink of bankruptcy in the early 2000s. ABB was able to resolve asbestos claims filed against Combustion Engineering and Lummus Global in 2006 with a billion-plus dollar settlement agreement. ABB and Alstom merged their power groups in 1999 creating a 50/50 joint venture , ABB-Alstom Power. In 2000, Alstom bought out ABB. In 2001, the nuclear steam supply system vendor portion of the company, operating as Combustion Engineering,

740-478: The company and its products base expanded. The Power Systems Division included the original major manufacturing facilities at Chattanooga, St. Louis, Monongahela, Birmingham; and in Canada, Brantford, Cornwall, and Upper Canada Manufacturing. A number of companies were acquired or developed and added to the division including, American Pole Structures, C-E Controls, the P.F. Avery Co., C-E Impel, C-E Maguire (Charles A. Maguire & Associates) and C-E Metals (primarily

777-429: The company's decision. Consumers Energy attempted to buy its way out of a power purchase agreement it has with Entergy and the plant. The MPSC did not approve Consumer Energy's full request of $ 172 million, so Entergy decided to keep the plant open three years longer than planned. On April 20, 2022, just weeks before the facility was scheduled to close, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer requested federal funding to keep

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814-542: The corporation was called Combustion Engineering-Superheater Inc. In September 1950 the firm announced plans to build a large high-pressure generating unit for Virginia Electric & Power Company in Chester, Virginia . In 1953, the name Superheater was eliminated and the company took the more familiar name - Combustion Engineering, Inc. At this time, C-E primarily designed and built boiler assemblies for conventional power plants ; those powered by coal and oil . In

851-734: The facility open. Entergy closed the Palisades plant in May 2022 and its sale to Holtec International was completed in June 2022. However, in September 2022, Holtec applied for funds from the Civil Nuclear Credit to reopen the plant. This request was denied in November 2022. In December 2022, Holtec announced that it will reapply for funds from the Civil Nuclear Credit in order to restart Palisades. Other efforts have been made to "repower"

888-609: The first two of its SMR-300 small modular reactors at Palisades by mid-2030. Combustion Engineering Combustion Engineering ( C-E ) was a multi-national American-based engineering firm that developed nuclear steam supply power systems in the United States . Originally headquartered in New York City, C-E moved its corporate offices to Stamford, Connecticut , in 1973. C-E owned over three dozen other companies including Lummus Company, National Tank Company and

925-513: The late 1960s the company supplied nuclear reactor systems and fabricated uranium fuel for electric utility companies. A joint venture was announced in April 1968, involving the Combustion Engineering Company, Houston Natural Gas , and Ranchers Exploration & Development Corporation. The three businesses combined to search for uranium on 250,000 acres (1,000 km ) in New Mexico . C-E

962-588: The mid-1950s, C-E also expanded its operations into oil and gas exploration, production, refining, and petrochemicals with the acquisition of the Lummus Company located in Bloomfield, New Jersey . Lummus also supplied small industrial steam supply systems for oil field enhanced recovery. C-E was one of the major suppliers of boilers for US Navy steam-powered warships, including Liberty ships during World War II. Amongst many other warships, all of

999-411: The plant from service on May 20. Once all fuel is removed from the reactor core, Holtec will buy the plant from Entergy and begin a three year process of moving all fuel to dry cask storage. Then a ten year pause to allow the decommissioning trust fund balance to grow followed by a 6 year long dismantling process, with an estimated completion date of 2041. The cost of decommissioning will be covered by

1036-683: The plant was sold to Entergy for $ 380 million. The plant's original licensee was due to expire on March 24, 2011. An application for 20-year extension was filed in 2005 with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission . It was granted on January 18, 2007. Therefore, the plant was then scheduled for decommissioning by 2031. Entergy had made a decision to close the plant in October 2018. A decision by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) influenced

1073-427: The plant would be the first nuclear power plant to restart operations in the country. Spent fuel is stored outdoors in 21 16-foot-tall (4.9 m) storage casks , each containing 30 tons and resting on a concrete pad. This was intended to be a temporary solution until the spent fuel repository at Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository opened. Two steam generators were replaced in 1992. This involved cutting

1110-426: The plant. On September 12, 2023, Holtec and Wolverine Power Cooperative announced that they had reached a power purchase agreement to restart the plant once the re-opening is approved. As of August 2024, Holtec has secured $ 300 million in state funding to restart the plant. The Department of Energy is also ready to offer a $ 1.5 billion loan to assist in restarting operations. If operations resume, planned for late 2025,

1147-455: The province of Ontario. The Oil & Gas Group had operations in the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. C-E maintained offices as well as a number of manufacturing sites on a worldwide basis, including the UK, Ireland, Austria, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Belgium, Mexico and France. C-E's technology on a wide range of products was licensed worldwide. For much of the existence of the company,

Palisades Nuclear Generating Station - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-461: The reactor at Palisades was 1 in 156,250, according to an NRC study published in August 2010. Like all U.S. nuclear power plants since September 11, 2001, public access to Palisades is prohibited. However, Palisades can be glimpsed from the neighboring Van Buren State Park . Originally planned to operate through May 31, 2022, concerns over a faulty control rod drive seal prompted operators to remove

1221-512: The unit until its decommissioning and dismantlement in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In the 1960s, C-E began selling nuclear power steam supply systems. The first commercial nuclear steam supply system was sold to Consumers Power Company of Michigan for the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station , which closed in 2022. C-E competed aggressively with General Electric and Westinghouse in this domain. In

1258-434: Was 28,644, a decrease of 4.5 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80 km) was 1,326,618, an increase of 4.4 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include South Bend, IN (45 miles to city center) and Kalamazoo, MI. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to

1295-424: Was bought by Westinghouse Electric Co., a then subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuels. On November 2, 2015 GE Power announced it had completed the acquisition of Alstom's power and grid businesses. Van Buren State Park (Michigan) Van Buren State Park is a 400-acre (160 ha) state park on Lake Michigan four miles (6.4 km) south of South Haven , Michigan , United States . The park, which

1332-654: Was generally credited with a superior design, evidenced by the fact that the megawatt yield of its nuclear reactors was typically about 10% higher than that of comparable Westinghouse plants. The basis for this increase in efficiency was a computer-based system called the Core Operating Limit Supervisory System (COLSS) for design, and the Core Protection Calculator (CPC) for real-time control room operation, which leveraged almost 300 in-core neutron detectors and

1369-664: Was originally headquartered on 11 Broadway and at 43 - 5 - 7 Broad Street (Manhattan) , both in Lower Manhattan . The city block was leased from the Alliance Realty Company in April 1920. In May of the same year the firm began construction of an eight-story office building on the same site. During the 1920s, C-E's signature boiler equipment was the English designed Type-E stoker . C-E also offered several other types of underfeed stokers in addition to

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