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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Whatever the future holds in store for the Alvin W. Vogtle nuclear power expansion project in Georgia, construction continues at the site, at least for now. Georgia Power Company (Atlanta, Georgia) recently issued a progress report on the project, which has run into massive cost overruns and delays.
Completing construction of units 3 and 4 of the power station will cost an additional $9.45 billion in capital costs, plus financing, Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE:SO) (Atlanta, Georgia), said in an August regulatory filing. Georgia Power and the other three owners of the project support its completion. State regulators will decide whether the project continues. Unit 3 would begin commercial operations in late 2021, and Unit 4 would begin generating electricity one year later. For related information, see September 1, 2017, article - Georgia Power Recommends Construction Continue at Vogtle.
Georgia Power released a construction progress report on October 6. One of the latest milestones includes a critical concrete "super placement" for Unit 3.
The 71-hour continuous placement included 1,844 cubic yards of concrete, according to the report. Concrete was poured in four key areas of the Unit 3 containment vessel - the refueling cavity, the bottom of the in-containment refueling water storage tank, the west steam generator cubicle walls and the pressurizer cubicle walls.
Another milestone was the lift of the 237-ton CA03 module for Unit 4, which is part of the In-Containment Refueling Water Storage Tank (IRWST). The IRWST is a 75,300-cubic-foot tank that will be filled with borated water to provide a passive heatsink within containment and backup cooling for the reactor vessel.
Other recent milestones include the placement of the 35-ton CA33 floor module for Unit 3. The module was delivered to the site in three sub-modules that were welded together on site. Also, workers placed the 148-foot, 300-ton deaerator for Vogtle Unit 4 inside the turbine building. The deaerator will eliminate dissolved gases such as carbon dioxide and oxygen from feedwater, which in turn will prevent corrosion.
On September 29, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced conditional commitments for up to $3.7 billion in loan guarantees to the Vogtle project owners. The Department of Energy has already guaranteed $8.3 billion in loans to the project owners to support its construction.
"I believe the future of nuclear energy in the United States is bright and look forward to expanding American leadership in innovative nuclear technologies," Perry said in a press release. "Advanced nuclear energy projects like Vogtle are the kind of important energy infrastructure projects that support a reliable and resilient grid, promote economic growth, and strengthen our energy and national security."
Georgia Power owns 45.7% of the new units, with the project's other co-owners including Oglethorpe Power Corporation (Tucker, Georgia), Municipal Energy Agency of Georgia (MEAG Power) (Atlanta, Georgia) and the City of Dalton, Georgia.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
Completing construction of units 3 and 4 of the power station will cost an additional $9.45 billion in capital costs, plus financing, Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE:SO) (Atlanta, Georgia), said in an August regulatory filing. Georgia Power and the other three owners of the project support its completion. State regulators will decide whether the project continues. Unit 3 would begin commercial operations in late 2021, and Unit 4 would begin generating electricity one year later. For related information, see September 1, 2017, article - Georgia Power Recommends Construction Continue at Vogtle.
Georgia Power released a construction progress report on October 6. One of the latest milestones includes a critical concrete "super placement" for Unit 3.
The 71-hour continuous placement included 1,844 cubic yards of concrete, according to the report. Concrete was poured in four key areas of the Unit 3 containment vessel - the refueling cavity, the bottom of the in-containment refueling water storage tank, the west steam generator cubicle walls and the pressurizer cubicle walls.
Another milestone was the lift of the 237-ton CA03 module for Unit 4, which is part of the In-Containment Refueling Water Storage Tank (IRWST). The IRWST is a 75,300-cubic-foot tank that will be filled with borated water to provide a passive heatsink within containment and backup cooling for the reactor vessel.
Other recent milestones include the placement of the 35-ton CA33 floor module for Unit 3. The module was delivered to the site in three sub-modules that were welded together on site. Also, workers placed the 148-foot, 300-ton deaerator for Vogtle Unit 4 inside the turbine building. The deaerator will eliminate dissolved gases such as carbon dioxide and oxygen from feedwater, which in turn will prevent corrosion.
On September 29, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry announced conditional commitments for up to $3.7 billion in loan guarantees to the Vogtle project owners. The Department of Energy has already guaranteed $8.3 billion in loans to the project owners to support its construction.
"I believe the future of nuclear energy in the United States is bright and look forward to expanding American leadership in innovative nuclear technologies," Perry said in a press release. "Advanced nuclear energy projects like Vogtle are the kind of important energy infrastructure projects that support a reliable and resilient grid, promote economic growth, and strengthen our energy and national security."
Georgia Power owns 45.7% of the new units, with the project's other co-owners including Oglethorpe Power Corporation (Tucker, Georgia), Municipal Energy Agency of Georgia (MEAG Power) (Atlanta, Georgia) and the City of Dalton, Georgia.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
