Columbia Generating Station
| Columbia Nuclear Generating Station | |
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View of the Columbia Nuclear Generating Station and low draft cooling towers at Hanford WA, USA
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 Location of Columbia Nuclear Generating Station in Washington (state)
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| Country | United States |
| Location | Benton County, near Richland, Washington |
| Coordinates | 46°28′16″N 119°20′2″W / 46.47111°N 119.33389°WCoordinates: 46°28′16″N 119°20′2″W / 46.47111°N 119.33389°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | 1975 |
| Commission date | December 13, 1984 |
| Owner(s) | Energy Northwest |
| Operator(s) | Energy Northwest |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | BWR/5 with Mark-II containment |
| Reactor supplier | General Electric |
| Cooling source | Columbia River |
| Cooling towers | 6 (low draft) |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 1 × 1,190 MW |
| Make and model | Westinghouse Electric |
| Nameplate capacity | 1,190 MW |
| Annual gross output | 8,052 GW·h |
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Website www.energy-northwest.com/ourenergyporjects/Columbia/ |
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Columbia Generating Station is a nuclear commercial energy facility located 10 miles (16 km) north of Richland, Washington. It is owned and operated by Energy Northwest, a Washington state, not-for-profit joint operating agency. Licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 1983, Columbia first produced electricity in May 1984, and entered commercial operation in December 1984.
Columbia produces 1,107 megawatts net of electricity, which is about 10 percent of the electricity generated in Washington state.
Columbia Generating Station is a BWR-5, a more robust and updated version of the type of reactor used at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. It features a Mark II containment structure.
The reactor core holds up to 764 fuel assemblies, and 185 control rods. The reactor is licensed for a power output of 3486 thermal megawatts (MWt). The gross electrical output of the plant is 1230 megawatts-electric (MWe).
The Columbia Generating Station features six low-profile fan-driven cooling towers. Each tower cascades clean warmed water, a byproduct of water heat exchanging with steam after leaving a turbine, down itself and subsequently cools the warmed water via a combination of evaporation and heat exchange with the surrounding air. Some water droplets fall back to earth in the process, thereby creating a hoar frost in the winter. At times, the vapor cloud from the cooling towers can reach 10,000 feet (3,000 m) in height and can be seen at a great distance. Replacement water for the evaporated water is drawn from the nearby Columbia River.
Columbia was built by the former Washington Public Power Supply System, known since 2000 as Energy Northwest. Its construction permit was issued in March 1973, and construction began in late 1975. Because of cost overruns and construction delays it began commercial operation in December 1984. Of the five commercial reactors originally planned by the Bonneville Power Administration and the Supply System in Washington, Columbia was the only one completed.
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