부산대학교 도서관

The Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) operated the Humboldt Bay Power Plant (HBPP) Unit 3 nuclear reactor near Eureka, California under Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) provisional license number DPR-7. HBPP Unit 3 achieved initial criticality in February 1963 and began commercial operations in August 1963. Unit 3 was a natural circulation boiling water reactor with a direct-cycle design. This design eliminated the need for heat transfer loops and large containment structures. Also, the pressure suppression containment design permitted below-ground construction. Stainless steel fuel claddings were used from startup until cladding failures resulted in plant system contamination—zircaloy-clad fuel was used exclusively starting in 1965 eliminating cladding-related contamination. A number of spills and gaseous releases were reported during operations resulting in a range of mitigative activities (see ESI 2008 for details).