Nine Mile Point Nuclear Power Plant

Overview

This is the site of two reactors, Nine Mile Point 1 and Nine Mile Point 2

Nine Mile Point 1
Location: Oswego County
Owner: Exelon/Constellation
Type: Mark I Boiling Water Reactor*
Age: 43 years in operation
Pop. within 50 miles: 909,523

Nine Mile 1 is one of the two oldest operating nuclear plants in the US and it is showing its age. In 1997, severe cracks were discovered in the shroud surrounding the reactor.

Nine Mile 1 is thought to have about 510 tons of used up fuel sitting in cooling pools on site. Just like the reactor core itself, spent fuel pools must be kept cool with a constant supply of water cooled by electricity. In Mark I reactors like Nine Mile 1, these pools are high in the air near the reactor core, making them vulnerable to exposure from leaks or to explosions caused by problems within the core. Institute for Resource and Security Studies estimates that a spent fuel pool fire could render 33,000 square miles uninhabitable. New York State is 55,000 square miles.

Nine Mile Point 2
Location: Oswego County
Owner: Exelon/Constellation
Type: Mark II Boiling Water Reactor
Age: 25 years in operation
Pop. within 50 miles: 909,523
Spent fuel in pools: ~345 tons

The NRC estimates that a core meltdown at Nine Mile 2 could cause 20,000 cancer deaths within 12.5 miles of the plant and could cost $367 billion.

New York State Nuclear Neighbors
updated 01/2014 by SaneEnergy