Cofrentes Nuclear Power Plant
| Cofrentes Nuclear Power Plant | |
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Plant cooling towers
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 Location of Cofrentes Nuclear Power Plant in Spain
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| Country | Spain |
| Coordinates | 39°13′0″N 1°3′0″W / 39.21667°N 1.05000°WCoordinates: 39°13′0″N 1°3′0″W / 39.21667°N 1.05000°W |
| Construction began | 1975 |
| Commission date | October 14, 1984 |
| Owner(s) | Iberdrola |
| Operator(s) | Iberdrola, S.A. |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 1 x 1102 MWe |
| Annual gross output | 8,872 GWh |
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Website www.cncofrentes.es |
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Cofrentes Nuclear Power Plant is a BWR-type nuclear power station located about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) southeast of Cofrentes, Spain. Cofrentes NPP entered service on October 14, 1984, with an installed power capacity of 992 MWe. Through improvements, it has successfully expanded its power gradually, first to 110 percent (1,092 MWe), and then to 111 percent (1,102 MWe), allowing the plant to supply virtually all of the domestic energy consumption in Valencian Community.
Cofrentes NPP is built on the right flank of the Júcar river, which provides water for cooling. It is located 61 km from Valencia in a straight line (100 km by road) and about three km from the Cofrentes volcano, which is generally considered inactive, although its magma chamber still feeds the source of the spa, Hervideros.
Approval to construct the plant was granted by the Ministry of Industry and Energy in 1972. The following two years were dedicated to basic engineering, acquiring the main equipment and securing the construction authorization. In 1975, the Cofrentes Municipal Council issued the building permit and business activity licence, and the Ministry of Industry authorized construction.
The plant project began in March 1973, when contracts were drawn up with General Electric Co. to supply the reactor, turbogenerator (turbine and generator) and the first load of fuel.
The reactor, a BWR-6 type, uses slightly enriched uranium which fissions generate energy as heat. This heat raises the temperature of water used for cooling the core within the primary circuit, while it is transformed into steam which is used directly in the primary circuit to move the turbine coupled to the alternator.
The containment is MARK-III type, in which the primary containment consist of the drywell, a circular suppression pool and metal containment. Secondary containment is formed by the auxiliary building, fuel building and reactor building.
Cofrentes is owned 100 percent by Iberdrola. It has an average annual production of nearly 8,900 million kWh, which equates roughly to the domestic energy consumed by the five million families living in the Valencian Community.
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Wikipedia