The Three Mile Island Unit 1 is a pressurized water reactor designed by Babcock and Wilcox with a net generating capacity of 802 MWe. The initial construction cost was 400 million US$, equal to $1,885,020,243 today. Unit 1 first came online on April 19, 1974, and began commercial operations on September 2, 1974. TMI-1 is licensed to operate for 40 years from its first run, and in 2009, was extended 20 years, which means it may operate until April 19, 2034. TMI-1 has a closed-cycle cooling system for its main condenser using two natural draft cooling towers. Makeup water is drawn from the river to replace the water lost via evaporation in the towers. Once-through cooling with river water is used for the service water system which cools auxiliary components and removes decay heat when the reactor is shutdown. When TMI-2 suffered its accident in 1979, TMI-1 was offline for refueling. It was brought back online in October 1985, after public opposition, several federal court injunctions, and some technical and regulatory complications.
On November 21, 2009, a radiation leak occurred inside the containment building of TMI-1 while workers were cutting pipes. Exelon Corporation stated to the public that "A monitor at the temporary opening cut into the containment building wall to allow the new steam generators to be moved inside showed a slight increase in a reading and then returned to normal. Approximately 20 employees were treated for mild radiation exposure." As of November 22, 2009 (2009 -11-22), it is believed that no radiation escaped the containment building and the public is not in any danger. The inside airborne contamination was caused by a change in air pressure inside the containment building that dislodged small irradiated particles in the reactor piping system. Some of the small particles became airborne inside the building and were detected by an array of monitors in place to detect such material. The air pressure change occurred when inside building ventilation fans were started to support outage activities. The site has modified the ventilation system to prevent future air pressure changes. Work continued on the project the following day. On January 24, 2010, TMI-1 was brought back online.
Read more about this topic: Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station
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