By Anna Turnage, 12/2006

• 1: Introduction
• 2: Nuclear Power Today part 2
• 3: North Carolina’s electric cooperatives’ interest in nuclear energy
• 4: How a nuclear generator plant works
• 5: Learning about nuclear energy at Catawba Nuclear Station
• Download the full article as a

North Carolina’s electric cooperatives’
interest in nuclear energy

Nuclear energy is a key component of North Carolina’s Touchstone Energy cooperatives’ power supply portfolio. As part owner of the Catawba Nuclear Station in York County, S.C., about half of the co-ops’ annual energy needs are met through nuclear energy.
Catawba’s Unit 1 and Unit 2 began commercial operation in 1985 and 1986, respectively. The 2,258-megawatt Catawba plant includes twin pressurized-water reactors (see diagram next page). Operated and co-owned by Duke Energy, the Catawba plant ran at an overall capacity factor of 97.5 percent in 2005. Capacity factor is the ratio of actual net electrical energy generation to the maximum possible energy that could have been generated if a plant operated at the maximum capacity rating for the same time period.

Through their power supply cooperative NCEMC, the state’s Touchstone Energy cooperatives own 56.25 percent Catawba Unit 1. In 2003, that unit was re-licensed to operate until December 2043. The license renewal process considers safety and environmental reasons in granting additional years of operations. In addition to its share in the Catawba station, NCEMC also owns diesel-powered generation stations on the Outer Banks. Both the 15-megawatt station at Buxton and the 3-megawatt station at Ocracoke provide peak-load power, and they function as backup generators during outages on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands. Currently, long-term power supply contracts with regional power providers fills the rest of the co-op energy needs.

Nuclear energy will always be an important part of the co-ops’ power supply needs, says Joe Brannan of NCEMC, mainly because diversity in energy supply helps ensure an adequate supply of electricity at a reasonable cost.

“If, as an industry, we should learn from our past, we certainly should have learned we need diversity in our fuel supply,” he said. “Without diversity, we expose ourselves to unnecessary price and availability volatility. The greater the potential sources of generation, the less likely any one source could threaten the overall ability to generate electricity.”