Plant Vogtle's planned nuclear additions — units 3 and 4 — are pictured in July in eastern Georgia. | Georgia PowerGeorgia Power was set to reach a milestone last month and open the first of two long-awaited nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle. Then came a delay — and more uncertainty.
The Vogtle expansion’s arrival is a huge moment for the U.S. electric industry that experts and officials expect to ripple well beyond eastern Georgia. Never mind that the two new nuclear gems Southern is scrambling to add to its crown were supposed to be up and running in 2016 and 2017. Or that their cost has more than doubled to over $30 billion.
“Yes, we’ve had our challenges,” CEO Chris Womack said during the company’s annual meeting. “I’m confident that the state of Georgia and our customers, our company, the world, will be so proud of the work that we’ve done in bringing Vogtle online.” “We’re ecstatic that this project is going to be turned on and really respectful of the perseverance and grit that it took ... but I also think it sets up the U.S. nuclear renaissance very well in small modular reactors,” Shah told E&E News.
“The only technology to meet the demand that is currently available and proven are the AP1000 units that are just being built and finished at Vogtle,” he said. “Anything else is just sort of a pipe dream.”Plant Vogtle’s problems have been “the accumulation of quite a few design and construction deficiencies,” said Edwin Lyman, nuclear power safety director for the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“It’s not that simple to manufacture these complex components and just stamp them together like Legos,” Lyman said. Still, the recently trained Vogtle workforce is a prime reason to keep the ball rolling, Georgia Tech’s Biegalski said. With this expertise, he sees future projects being built quicker and at a lower cost.
While small modular reactors are worth researching in Biegalski’s view, he said the AP1000 design is the country’s “only option” for the immediate future of nuclear, he said.and other power companies are trying to crack the equation of cheaper and easier to build carbon-free nuclear power.the state’s first small modular reactors, eyeing a dozen units in partnership with a nuclear developer. Back in January, NuScale Power Corp.