nuclear-news

New Vogtle nuclear reactor – delays and unexpected costs

Utility: Building schedule slips on Ga. nuke plant The Telegraph, Middle Georgia, By RAY HENRY — Associated Press May 9, 2012 The timeline for building a first-of-its-kind nuclear plant in Georgia has slipped seven months, while the Southern Co. faces a dispute over who should pay for $400 million in unanticipated costs, utility executives said Wednesday.

Southern Co. initially planned on finishing the construction of its
first new reactor at Plant Vogtle near Augusta by April 2016 and
complete work on the second reactor a year later. But that schedule
has slipped to November 2016 for the first reactor and a year later
for the second, said David McKinney, a vice president for nuclear
construction for the Southern Co.

“We do not currently believe that the April dates are achievable,”
McKinney testified during a hearing held by the state’s Public Service
Commission, which regulates the utility.

The nuclear industry has hoped that the Plant Vogtle expansion will
prove it can build new plants without the endemic delays that caused
big increases in cost of borrowing money to build, a major problem
during the last round of nuclear construction. Under state law, the
cost of building the new reactors will be paid by the nearly 2.4
million customers of Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power. http://www.macon.com/2012/05/09/2019343/utility-testifies-on-cost-of-new.html#storylink=cpy

May 10, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA