The design of the next generation nuclear power plant proposed to be built by TVA, Georgia Power and a half dozen other utilities lacks adequate containment to protect the public, according to an engineering study released today by a coalition of anti-nuclear groups.
In a 32-page analysis of the proposed Westinghouse AP-1000 design, nuclear engineer Arnold Gundersen said the proposed plant lacks the backup concrete containment building of existing plants. That makes the new design more likely to release hazardous radiation in the event of corrosion in the steel containment wall.
"The proposed AP-1000 containment design is inherently less safe than current reactors," said Mr. Gundersen, former senior vice-president at Nuclear Energy Services PCC, and a consultant to 12 environmental groups opposed to more nuclear power plants.
The new Westinghouse plant design includes thicker steel containment walls than existing plants and it has an 8-million gallon water tank above the containment building to ensure the reactor could be cooled in the event of an accident. But Gundersen said the steel containment is still subject to localized rust or corrosion.
In the past two decades, nuclear plant employees have detected six holes in containment walls at four different U.S. nuclear plants.
TVA is studying the Westinghouse AP-1000 design at its Bellefonte site in Hollywood, Ala., and Georgia Power, Dalton Utilities and Oglethorpe Power want to jointly build two of the AP-1000 reactors at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Ga.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission must still sign off on the final design of the plant and issue combined operating licenses before any new plants may be built.
Details in tomorrow's Times Free Press