Palo Verde Nuclear Generation Station

Largest is Near Phoenix

Our country continues to monitor potential terrorist activity that could occur on American soil. Arizonans have been very aware, since the tragic events surrounding the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, that there are significant points in that could become terrorist targets. Most notable among these are the , the Grand Canyon, and the Palo Verde Nuclear Generation Station

Arizona Public Service owns a major stake (29.1%) in the Palo Verde Nuclear Generation Station and operates the facility.

Here are some interesting facts about the Palo Verde Nuclear Generation Station:

• Construction began in 1976. There are three units, the last of which was completed in 1988. The total cost to build the plant was $5.9 billion. • The Palo Verde plant is the largest nuclear energy generating facility in the United States. It is located about 50 miles west of Phoenix in Tonopah, Arizona. The facility is on about 4,000 acres. Approximately 2,500 people are employed there. • In 2000 the Palo Verde nuclear plant generated 30.4 million megawatts of power. • About 4 million people in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas receive power generated by the Palo Verde plant. • Palo Verde is the only nuclear energy facility in the world that uses treated sewage effluence for cooling water. • Palo Verde does not use fossil fuels to generate electricity. It is a zero-emissions facility. • The reactors at Palo Verde are in an airtight, reinforced concrete structure designed to withstand the force of a jet airplane.

Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station

PNM is proud to be one of several owners of Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, the most productive nuclear power plant in the United States. Located about 50 miles west of Phoenix in Tonopah, Ariz., Palo Verde generates 3,810 megawatts of energy. The plant, which has been online since 1986, services homes throughout the Southwest and meets 30 percent of the power needs of PNM customers.

Palo Verde generated nearly 30.4 million megawatts of power in 2000, more than any other U.S. power plant. From 1997 to 1999, it had the second-lowest three-year average production costs of the 68 nuclear utilities in the United States at 1.29 cents per kilowatt- hour. That's almost a half cent lower than the national average for nuclear power plants.

Environment

• The plant does not use fossil fuels to generate electricity and produces no air emissions. • If all the electricity used throughout one person's life was produced by nuclear power, that person's share of waste from nuclear facilities would fit in a soda can. • Nuclear reactors and steam generators are located in a containment building — an airtight, reinforced concrete structure designed to withstand the force of a jet airplane. • Palo Verde is the only nuclear energy facility in the world that uses treated sewage effluence for cooling water. The plant uses effluent water from the City of Phoenix, where it is treated in an 80-acre reservoir for use in the plant's cooling towers. More than 20 billion gallons of this water are recycled each year.

PALO VERDE 1 PALO VERDE 2

Location: Wintersburg, Arizona, United States Location: Wintersburg, Arizona, United States Utility: Arizona Public Service Company Utility: Arizona Public Service Company Reactor Supplier: Combustion Engineering Reactor Supplier: Combustion Engineering Steam Generators: General Electric Steam Generators: General Electric Architecture: Bechtel Architecture: Bechtel Construction: Bechtel Construction: Bechtel Capacity: 1249 net MWe Capacity: 1249 net MWe Reactor Type: Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Reactor Type: Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Operable. Initial criticality: 05/1985 Operable. Initial criticality: 04/1986 Commercial start: 01/1986. Commercial start: 09/1986. License Expiration date: 12/31/2024 License Expiration date: 12/09/2025 Electricity Produced in 1997: 10.7 billion kWh Electricity Produced in 1997: 9.3 billion kwh 1997 Average : 98.6% 1997 Average Capacity Factor: 85.6%

PALO VERDE 3

Location: Wintersburg, Arizona, United States Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station is a triple-unit Utility: Arizona Public Service Company nuclear power facility located near Wintersburg, Reactor Supplier: Combustion Engineering Arizona, approximately 45 miles west of Phoenix. As Steam Generators: General Electric the largest nuclear energy facility in the nation, Palo Architecture: Bechtel Verde generates electricity to serve approximately 4 Construction: Bechtel million people. Also, in 1996, Palo Verde 1 was one of Capacity: 1249 net MWe the top ten performing nuclear units worldwide. and Reactor Type: Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Palo Verde 2 & 3 were two of the top twenty electric Operable. Initial criticality: 10/1987 generating nuclear units worldwide. Commercial start: 01/1988. License Expiration date: 03/25/2027 Electricity Produced in 1997: 9.3 billion kWh 1997 Average Capacity Factor: 86.5%