Wolf Creek Nuclear Power Generating Station Construction

Fluor provided construction services for this record-setting 1,150-megawatt nuclear power generating station.

The total program, from groundbreaking to fuel loading, spanned more than 8 years.

Client's Challenge

In addition to the reactor and turbine-generator buildings, the facility included the power block, radioactive waste building, fuel building, and control building.

The plant held 110 tons of fuel that had an energy equivalent of more than 9 million tons of coal.

Provisions were made to store spent fuel for a minimum of 20 years of operation.

Fluor's Solution

Construction of the $2.5 billion plant began in 1977.

It was built in accordance with the Standardized Nuclear Unit Power Plan Syndicate (SNUPPS) design. The reactor, a silo-shaped building measuring 205 feet in height and at its base, 150 feet in diameter, sat on a 10-foot thick concrete foundation and was surrounded by walls up to 4 feet thick.

The turbine-generator building, housing four steam turbines and the generator, was 313 feet long and 140 feet high.

Steel piping for the generator cooling water was 13 feet in diameter, and ran a total of 4,320 feet.

Conclusion

The nuclear power generating station was completed in 1985.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, in its review prior to approval for fuel loading and eventual power generation, gave the project high marks for compliance with federal regulations and for an outstanding start-up.

In its first year of operation, Wolf Creek produced 8,926,510 megawatts of electrical energy – a production record for the 29-year history of nuclear power generation.