Possibly the most labor-intensive Focus page so far. I wanted to follow up the closure of our local San Onofre nuclear plant with something to put it all into perspective. This chart shows the history of every commercial generator in the US, breaking down construction time (blue), operational lifetime (green) and how long each is currently licensed to operate (gold). What really pops forward is the fact that no new plants were started over 30 years from 1977 to this year. I pull out a number of plants for additional notes. Like, for instance: Three Mile Island's Reactor 2 had been open just 11 months when it melted down. Residents of Sacramento voted to shut down a plant near there in 1989. The oldest operating plant in the country is Oyster Creek, N.J. which opened in 1969. It's licensed to operate through 2029, but its owners plan to close it ten years early. June 17, 2013.
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