Staff Writer
A proposal to add two reactors to Plant Vogtle cleared a second major hurdle Wednesday with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's finding that there are no safety or site issues that would prevent issuing an early site permit.
In an 800-page final safety evaluation report, regulators evaluated the project's vulnerability to earthquakes, plane crashes, floods, dam breaks -- even hurricanes -- as part of an effort to identify potential problems before new reactors are built.
The document is a companion study to a final environmental impact statement that was issued in August, NRC spokesman Roger Hannah said.
"This is the other major hurdle, but there still has to be a final decision," Mr. Hannah said. "It's basically the technical half of the review, where they look at the design and all kinds of information that would be important to plant safety, as opposed to the plant's impacts on the environment."
Southern Nuclear, like Georgia Power a subsidiary of Southern Co., filed its Vogtle early site permit application Aug. 15, 2006, and has also applied for a Combined Operating License to build and operate two AP1000 reactors on the site on the Savannah River, 26 miles downstream from Augusta.
Although a decision on an early site permit could be made as early as this fall, many of the issues and studies must be repeated during the company's quest for a combined operating license.
Environmental groups opposed the permits on grounds that the regulatory commission did not consider the impact of global warming and climate change that could affect availability of water in the Savannah River.
However, according to the report released Wednesday, regulators explored the impacts of climate change but found no reason to adjust the site's suitability.
"The staff acknowledges that long-term climatic change resulting from human or natural causes may introduce changes," the report states, but new conditions or restrictions could be imposed in the future "if new information shows that the climate has changed."
Reach Rob Pavey at 868-1222, ext. 119, or rob.pavey@augustachronicle.com.
PROPOSED EXPANSION
- Southern Nuclear applied Aug. 15, 2006, for an early site permit that would give the company up to 20 years to decide whether to build one or more reactors at the plant.
- The planned expansion would create 3,000 to 4,000 construction jobs -- fewer than the earlier project because newer technology allows prefabrication of major nuclear reactor components.
- Southern Nuclear hopes to get approval for the permit, which would allow the issuance of a combined construction and operating license as early as 2011.
- If construction goes as planned, the new reactors could go online in 2016.
- The two proposed reactors would use about 53.6 million gallons of water per day during normal use and up to 83.2 million gallons per day at maximum use, with 50 percent to 75 percent of that volume potentially lost as steam.
- The new reactors, manufactured by Westinghouse, would be shipped by barge up the Savannah River, which would require dredging. Each reactor would require two steam generators weighing 600 to 800 tons apiece to be shipped by boat.
Source: Southern Co.
