Laguna Verde nuclear power plant
| Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Plant | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Country | Mexico |
| Location | Alto Lucero, Veracruz Mexico |
| Coordinates | 19°43′15″N 96°24′23″W / 19.72083°N 96.40639°WCoordinates: 19°43′15″N 96°24′23″W / 19.72083°N 96.40639°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Commission date | 1990 (Unit 1) 1995 (Unit 2) |
| Owner(s) | Mexican Government |
| Operator(s) | Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | Boiling Water Reactors (BWR-5) |
| Reactor supplier | GE |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 2 reactors |
| Nameplate capacity | 1620 MW (2 x 810 MW) |
| Annual output | 4.782 TWh x 2 |
Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Plant (LVNPP) is located on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, in Alto Lucero, Veracruz, Mexico. It is the only nuclear power plant in Mexico and produces about 4.5% of the country's electrical energy. It consists of two units GE Boiling Water Reactors (BWR-5) each one with installed capacity of 682 MW using low enriched uranium (3%) as fuel. Unit-1 (U-1) started its operation on July 29, 1990. Unit-2 (U-2) started its operation on April 10, 1995. Initial architects in 1975 for the plant were Burns and Roe Inc and later Ebasco Services designed and supervised the project. The steam turbine and other components were manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric. The plant is owned and operated by Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), the national electric company owned by the Mexican government.
Laguna Verde has been considered a strategic facility for the National Power System (SEN) due to its high power generation capacity, lowest operating cost, and frequency and voltage regulation capacity. All the electric power generated is delivered to its single client, the National Energy Control Center (CENACE). CENACE is entrusted with the function of planning, directing, and supervising the transmission and distribution of electric power to end users. CENACE has classified LVNPP as Base Load Power Plant since the beginning of its operations.
The annual generation average for LVNPP in the last 5 years has been of 10.5 TWh, electric energy sufficient to meet the demand of more than 4 million inhabitants.
On May 5, 2011, several news agencies released false information stating that an explosion had taken place at the plant. The CFE and the Mexican government both stated that this information was false and that the plant was operating as usual.
The generation of electric power at the CLV is based on the technology of nuclear fission of uranium atoms, which takes place in the reactor. The energy released by the nuclear fission is transferred as heat from the fuel to the cooling water, which boils into steam. The quality of steam is controlled through a separator and dryer. The separator and dryer are part of the internal processes of the reactor pressure vessel. The turbine transforms power from steam (kinetic energy) into mechanical energy causing an electric generator to move (electric power production). Once the steam has gone through the turbine, it is cooled in a condenser; the water obtained in this manner is pumped again toward the nuclear reactor, to restart the generation cycle.
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Wikipedia