Tour of Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant

Commission members and interested guests toured the Seabrook Station nuclear power plant on Tuesday, September 5, 2023.

Seabrook Station nuclear power plant is located in Seabrook, New Hampshire. It’s approximately 40 miles north of Boston and 10 miles south of Portsmouth. Here are some key details about the plant:

• Operation: The plant has been operational since 1990. In 2019, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission extended the plant’s operating license an additional 20 years so that it will currently expire in 2050.
• Output: With its 1,244-megawatt electrical output, Seabrook Unit 1 is the largest individual electrical generating unit on the New England power grid. It’s the second largest nuclear plant in New England after Connecticut’s two-unit Millstone Nuclear Power Plant.
• Owner and Operator: Since 2002, NextEra Energy Resources has owned and operated Seabrook Station.
• Environmental Impact: Each year, Seabrook’s operations avoid emissions equivalent to taking approximately 700,000 cars off the road.
• Energy Supply: Seabrook operates at full capacity nearly every day of the year, providing enough energy for approximately 1.4 million homes and businesses. Seabrook provided roughly 50% of New Hampshire’s total in-state electricity net generation.

Overview of the Tour

The tour began Tuesday morning with a group check-in with staff to ensure the requisite paperwork was completed.

Then, the group was given an hour-long guided tour of the control room simulator used to train and license plant operators.

The group was escorted through the plant security gates, then up to a conference room where they had a lunchtime presentation with site vice president Brian Booth and other Seabrook staff. Mr. Booth presented on NextEra as a nationwide company with a focus on the Seabrook Station asset. One issue discussed was the inadvertent siren activation in July of 2022 and actions taken to prevent it from happening again.

The group was then escorted through the facility, with a guided tour that included experiencing the brute power of the steam turbines and glimpses of the reactor containment building and unused second reactor pad site.

The commission would like to thank NextEra and its staff for taking the time to host and facilitate this instructive tour.