Power Plants
Georgia Nuclear Plant Moves Ahead
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is moving closer to ending the nuclear construction freeze in the United States, as it plans to act within months on a license request for a facility partially owned by a Georgia cooperative.
A Georgia cooperative is awaiting final approval of two new nuclear units near a plant it co-owns. (Photo By: Southern Co.)
During Sept. 27-28 hearings at the agency’s Rockville, Md., headquarters, NRC staffers said Southern Co. and its partners had provided appropriate information for a final decision on construction of two units near Waynesboro in east Georgia.
The reactors each would have a capacity of about 1,100 megawatts and join two existing units at the Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Plant, which is operated by Southern Co. Oglethorpe Power, Tucker, Ga., will have 30 percent ownership; Southern will have about 46 percent.
The hearing represented the first time the NRC considered approving both construction and operating licenses at the same time, under a policy change it made in the late 1980s.
“We are one step closer to receiving the first COL ever issued for nuclear units in this country,” said Buzz Miller, executive vice president of nuclear development for Southern Nuclear. “We believe that the evidence presented emphasizes that our application satisfies all commission regulations and requirements.”
The last time construction started on a new nuclear plant in the U.S. was in 1977 at the River Bend plant in Louisiana.
NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko said the commission could act on the favorable staff recommendation in late 2011 or early 2012. The utilities hope to bring Unit 3 on-line in 2016 and Unit 4 in 2017.
The NRC still has to give the go-ahead to the AP1000 reactor design that is at the heart of the construction. It has allowed Southern Co. to undertake some initial work, and the utility plans to install rebar and a concrete basemat while awaiting the agency’s final decision.
In February 2010, the Obama administration announced it would provide an $8.3 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy to help underwrite the high upfront construction costs.
Tags: Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Power Plants