Reliability Of Generation At A Hanford Nuclear Energy Center Hnec

A nuclear energy center characteristically would have large amounts of electric generating capacity in a relatively small geographical area. HNEC is a conceptual nuclear energy center containing 20 generating units of 1200 MW capacity each, located at Hanford, Washington. DS is an alternative concept; namely, 20 generating units of similar capacity in six clusters at sites along the Columbia and Willamette rivers in Washington and Oregon. HNEC in year 2005 could provide up to 30% of system capacity; typically utilities limit concentration of thermal plant generation to about 15% of system requirements. For this reason it is appropriate to examine the reliability of generation at a nuclear energy center to determine if it could be less than at dispersed sites because of local conditions and the close proximity of many generating units. In the report, reliability of generation HNEC is assessed by comparing it with that at Dispersed Sites (DS) throughout the Pacific Northwest. Reliability is measured in terms of two sets of risks: risk of forced outage, and risk of user power shortage.