Officials: Largest nuclear power plant in U.S. equipped for emergencies

Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station: The Basics infographic: Sarah Whitmire O Surprise 101, Peoria, 17 51 Phoenix 143 o Avondale 60 202 Mesa Wintersburg 10 Superstition Fwy Buckeye Over 1.5 million Arizona residents live within 50 miles of Palo Verde (red circle Plant Location Maricopa shows approximate diameter). - about 48 miles from Arizona Capitol Building - only 7 miles south of Interstate 10 - small box shows magnified area below Image 2011 DigitalGlobe 2011 Google Google Cooling Towers - second level of heat dissipation - removes residual heat from reactors via steam - the Palo Verde plant has nine Reservoirs - top reservoir: 45 acres bottom reservoir: 85 acres (empty in photo) - a combined storage capacity of 3 million gallons - enough to cool plant for a full Containment Buildings - house nuclear reactors and year Spray Ponds - first level of heat dissipation - used as 'ultimate heat sink' since the Palo Verde plant is not near a large body of water each holds 5 million gallons - enough to cool plant for a full month alo steam generators - the Palo Verde plant has three operational nuclear reactors 1 En trance Image © 2011 DigitalGlobe. © 2011 Google Google aricopa Fwy