Wolf Creek Generating Station is a nuclear power plant located near Burlington, Kansas. It occupies 9,818 acres (39.73 km2) of the total 11,800 acres (4,800 ha) controlled by the owner. Its namesake, Wolf Creek, was dammed to create Coffey County Lake (formerly Wolf Creek Lake), and provides water for the condensers.
History
Construction started on May 30, 1977[2] and it was commissioned on September 3, 1985, at a cost of US$5.771 billion (in 2007 value).[1]
This plant has one Westinghousepressurized water reactor that came online on June 4, 1985. The reactor was rated at 1,170 MW(e). A new turbine generator rotor was installed in 2011 that increased electrical output to approximately 1250 MW(e). The reactor output remained unchanged at 3565 MW (th).
On October 4, 2006, the operator applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a renewal and extension of the plant's operating license.[3]
The NRC granted the renewal on November 20, 2008, extending the license from forty years to sixty.[4]
On January 13, 2012, at 2 p.m., due to a breaker failure and an unexplained loss of power to an electrical transformer, the plant experienced an automatic reactor trip and loss of offsite power that lasted 3 hours.[5]
The nuclear plant was a target of an unsuccessful cyberattack by hackers in 2017,[6] leading to indictments in 2021.[7][a] FSB's 16th Center military unit 71330 associated Russian hacker groups Energetic Bear, Berserk Bear and Crouching Yeti were associated with the attacks at Wolf Creek.[8]
Generation (MWh) of Wolf Creek Generating Station[12]
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Annual (Total)
2001
888,118
803,086
833,873
855,348
878,063
853,966
873,972
874,542
853,335
887,293
857,462
887,593
10,346,651
2002
888,357
799,266
608,945
41,519
623,618
849,793
872,827
873,897
850,467
886,975
858,367
887,671
9,041,702
2003
831,072
801,210
885,555
854,714
882,299
850,274
872,780
805,442
848,540
462,620
-12,790
807,951
8,889,667
2004
883,896
721,298
881,977
853,917
879,963
846,910
837,005
810,094
842,667
833,054
856,664
885,291
10,132,736
2005
618,685
716,081
884,712
209,235
329,357
846,487
869,375
871,289
847,341
884,564
857,647
886,172
8,820,945
2006
886,275
800,601
887,370
855,828
883,329
846,602
869,974
869,842
847,422
155,136
560,443
887,447
9,350,269
2007
887,999
801,514
881,725
858,366
879,108
847,151
870,017
866,697
848,194
882,895
859,137
886,333
10,369,136
2008
718,760
827,848
463,799
-8,726
437,666
846,724
870,912
865,376
847,526
883,317
858,061
885,897
8,497,160
2009
885,692
797,548
872,111
786,064
819,918
843,949
869,102
700,728
848,675
242,473
213,432
888,856
8,768,548
2010
882,985
803,221
653,886
857,453
883,604
841,746
863,933
865,496
847,441
426,678
855,523
773,746
9,555,712
2011
883,547
796,991
498,103
-6,128
-25,629
7,448
773,763
873,223
861,524
896,251
864,063
895,732
7,318,888
2012
357,418
-11,005
82,077
869,918
888,242
855,202
837,483
877,801
861,144
900,138
863,023
903,483
8,284,924
2013
901,523
72,505
-7,587
327,330
611,551
842,579
882,785
883,930
292,148
582,132
874,919
904,486
7,168,301
2014
900,328
816,789
184,526
-10,781
494,964
862,500
890,551
885,769
867,614
904,318
852,083
909,723
8,558,384
2015
909,980
786,680
-7,224
-16,253
761,833
862,928
885,723
887,146
864,625
904,321
880,443
909,976
8,630,178
2016
910,276
845,851
907,060
878,858
903,726
860,319
877,570
884,908
24,882
-5,464
245,456
912,600
8,246,042
2017
912,867
824,017
910,867
874,267
907,330
869,095
882,648
893,575
870,511
906,549
884,220
912,041
10,647,987
2018
912,386
822,973
875,324
-7,752
351,294
865,039
885,908
887,951
870,926
908,933
884,279
911,028
9,168,289
2019
911,787
823,970
911,644
881,581
906,465
870,229
890,153
893,065
570,296
-7,683
683,874
912,353
9,247,734
2020
911,525
791,946
911,466
882,418
906,774
867,876
889,607
892,895
871,477
908,720
840,655
907,123
10,582,482
2021
911,616
823,212
676,419
0
428,191
646,808
893,228
778,463
870,455
853,713
855,977
836,650
8,574,732
2022
913,572
801,347
857,428
825,608
899,673
867,172
763,282
890,127
869,681
135,914
7,823,804
2023
Ownership
The Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation, a Delaware corporation, operates the power plant. The ownership is divided between the Evergy (94%), and Kansas Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. (6%).
Surrounding population
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.[13]
The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Wolf Creek was 5,466, a decrease of 2.8 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 176,656, a decrease of 1.7 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include Emporia (30 miles to city center).[14]
Seismic risk
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at Wolf Creek was 0.0019%, or 1 in 55,556, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.[15][16]
Notes
^The attack was led by the FSB's Centre 16L military unit 71330 which collects radio-electronic intelligence on communications facilities and is also known as Energetic bear, Berserk Bear, Dragonfly, IRON LIBERTY, CASSTLE, CROUCHING YETI, DYMALLOY, TG-4192, Snake, Venomous Bear, Turla, Uroboros. In 2003, the 16th Center military unit 71330 Center for Electronic Intelligence on Communications Equipment (CRRSS) or (TsRRSS) (Russian: 16-й Центр — Центр радиоэлектронной разведки на средствах связи (ЦРРСС)), which is the main structure for internet operations outside Russia and is responsible for intercepting, decrypting and processing electronic communications, is located in Moscow at Pechatnikov Lane, 13 BLDG. 1 with Service No 1 of military unit 71330, which is engaged in planting and other technical means of penetration into foreign missions, located in St. Petersburg at Fontanka River Embankment, 100/letter A.[8][9][10][11]