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Fort St. Vrain nuclear power plant

Retired United States
Gross capacity
342MW

Fort St. Vrain nuclear power plant is a high-temperature gas reactor unit at Fort St. Vrain nuclear power plant in United States rated at 342 MW gross. It is retired. Commercial operation began 1 Jul 1979.

Specification
Reactor type High-temperature gas reactor (HTGR)
Modelnot disclosed
Size classLarge
CoolantHelium
ModeratorGraphite
Gross capacity342MW
Net capacity (reference)330MW
Net capacity (design)330MW
Thermal output842MWt
Typical enrichment8–20% U-235, frequently HALEU
Ownership & location
SiteFort St. Vrain nuclear power plant
Unitnot stated
CountryUnited States
OperatorPublic Service Company of Colorado
Coordinates 40.2453, -104.8742
Fuel chain for this unit
Fuel form
TRISO-coated particle fuel in pebbles or compacts
Enrichment
8–20% U-235, frequently HALEU HALEU dependency
Who makes this assembly
Upstream

Enriched fuel means this unit sits downstream of five conversion plants and four enrichment operators holding 88% of world capacity between the top three.

RosatomUrencoCNNCOrano

This design needs HALEU — enrichment above 5%. Western production is currently measured in hundreds of kilograms a year.

Conversion
CamecoCNNCConverDynOranoRosatom
Fabricator capability is recorded against reactor type and model line, not against named units — utilities do not publish fuel contracts. See the fuel chain.

Timeline

  1. 1 Sep 1968Construction start
  2. 31 Jan 1974First criticality
  3. 11 Dec 1976Grid connection
  4. 1 Jul 1979Commercial operation
  5. 29 Aug 1989Permanent shutdown

Sources