Arkansas Business published a 50th birthday report on Arkansas Nuclear One in July 2023, marking 50 years since Unit 1 of the state’s only nuclear power station was licensed for testing.
This month, Entergy Arkansas celebrated the 50th anniversary of commercial operation by Unit 1, which started actually delivering power to customers on Dec. 12, 1974.
The second unit of the fission plant near Russellville began commercial operations in March 1980, and both generators are far from retirement. With carbon emissions-free nuclear power again in high demand, Unit 1 is licensed to run until 2034, and Unit 2 is cleared through 2038.
“Our goal is to continue to operate these plants out to the 2050 timeframe,” Doug Pehrson, Entergy’s site vice president, told me last year. That means Unit 1 will still be working at age 76.
“People here in the area want to keep this nuclear plant open and recognize the need for nuclear power … and the amount of engineering and maintenance that we do at our stations,” Pehrson said.
The Nuclear One era outlasted the whole career of Kurt Castleberry, who was a student at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville when Unit 2 came online. He went on to become Entergy Arkansas’ director of resource planning and operations.
“I was in college … from 1978 to ’82,” Castleberry said. “Unit One was already online, and the town was very proud of that. … But I remember vividly when the second unit came online in 1980. I was a sophomore, and walking to class I’d see the water vapor coming out of the huge cooling tower. It was impressive.”
That steam is still rising today, whereas Castleberry retired after a 40-year career in December 2022.
Entergy Arkansas President and CEO Laura Landreaux called the 50th anniversary a celebration of the nuclear plant’s “enduring contribution” to Arkansas progress.
Through a half-century of splitting uranium atoms to heat steam to turn huge generation turbines, the plant has been a workhorse for the utility. Its 1,800 megawatts of capacity are enough to power a million homes. The plant provides power for 56% of the utility’s 730,000 residential and business meters, and it creates 76% of the state’s emissions-free power.
ANO generates more than electricity, the utility points out.
It has an annual payroll of about $84 million, and its economic value is worth $190 million a year to the gross state product, Entergy said in a Dec. 11 news release. It provides about $15 million a year in local and state taxes.
When units shut down for refueling and maintenance, about 1,000 additional workers flood the region, increasing business at hotels, restaurants and gas stations. The plant also spends about $12 million on materials, services and fuels from more than 175 Arkansas companies.
Over the years, ANO weathered the nuclear protest era and rode out nuclear disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima with no disruptive protests.
A fatal accident in 2013 tarnished its image, but the plant rebounded and is seen now as a valuable and reliable source of “clean” power as climate change realities overwhelm lingering disdain for nuclear power.
John Hathcote, a Nuclear One employee for more than 30 years and now its maintenance director, described the station as a special place to work, largely because of the employees and how the area embraces them.
“The community has always been 100% behind us, and our full-time workers are engaged in churches, communities and charities. I’ve coached wrestling, football, softball and baseball. I’m proud to wear my Entergy shirt in town.”
Sign up for Daily E-news
