A giant crater of Georgia red clay stands ready to usher in the next generation of nuclear power at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Ga.
But while site work continues and ratepayers begin paying for two new reactors, federal regulators have yet to approve the design of the new units.
Last month, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission cited Westinghouse Corp. for improper modeling of the potential safety threat from an aircraft attack on the proposed new AP1000 reactors.
Westinghouse nuclear division spokeswoman Michelle Deemer said this week they have corrected the NRC violation and expect to gain regulatory approval for the plant design next year.
But nuclear power critics question why so much money is being spent before the design is fully approved.
“Consumers are paying right now for a project that has yet to be approved and is certainly not a slam dunk,” said Sara Barczak, spokeswoman for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “This is not the way the new licensing process was supposed to work.”
The owners of the proposed units at Plant Vogtle, including Dalton Utilities, are seeking regulatory approval to build and start up the first new reactor by 2016. A second unit is scheduled to be built a year later. The combined cost is estimated at $14 billion.
Dalton Utilities’ share is about $225 million and, to help the utility remain debt-free, will be paid by ratepayers while Plant Vogtle is constructed. Georgia Power and the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia have won regulatory approval for rate increases next year, in part, to pay for part of Plant Vogtle construction.
The Vogtle reactors, if built on schedule, will be the first in the United States in the 21st century and the first licensed under a streamlined regulatory approach adopted to aid an American nuclear renaissance.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is finishing nuclear reactors at its Watts Bar and Bellefonte sites. It delayed moving ahead on the AP1000 reactor design last year, deciding to complete the older reactors first.
Dalton Utilities President Don Cope said he remains confident the Plant Vogtle units will be completed on time despite some shifts in initial work schedules.
“There is a real difference in the culture of constructing a nuclear facility compared with any other civil project,” Cope recently told the board of Dalton Utilities.
The streamlined licensing process combines construction and operations, which allows utilities to gain regulatory approval of a plant before construction begins.
The Southern Nuclear Operating Co., which operates Plant Vogtle, received a permit in August 2009 for site preparation and has ordered steam generators, turbine equipment and other major components, Cope said.
The NRC in 2009 approved the design for the AP1000 reactor, which is supposed to be simpler, safer and less expensive to build than current reactors.
But in October 2009, regulators objected to a proposed change that would lower the cost of the new reactor.
Last month, the NRC issued a notice of violation to Westinghouse for not properly responding to concerns about the integrity of the reactor to an aircraft attack, specifically, the integrity of what’s known as the “shield building” around the reactor. The rules were adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.
Barczak said “consumers should be deeply concerned” that they are now paying to begin building a reactor that has not been certified.
“The NRC raised serious questions about the shield building more than a year ago when the design was supposed to be complete, and those issues are still not resolved,” she said.
But Beth Thomas, a spokeswoman for Southern Nuclear Operating Co., said Westinghouse is addressing the concerns.
“We anticipate getting our combined operating license by late 2011, and we remain confident in the plant design,” Thomas said.