Group items tagged

Southern Nuclear Operating Company; Notice of Availability of Errata Sheet for the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for an Early Site Permit (ESP) Application at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Site

Two new reactors at the Vogtle site could cost up to $14 billion, Georgia Power said in an integrated resource plan filed August 1 with the Georgia Public Service Commission. Georgia Power said in the filing that its 45.7% share of the new reactors would cost about $4.4 billion if the PSC allows it to include the costs in its rate base as construction progresses. The Southern Co. subsidiary added, however, that if it is not allowed to do that, its costs for the two AP1000s would increase almost 30% to $6.4 billion.

A consortium of environmental groups will continue its challenge to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's pending approval for an early site permit that would allow construction of two new reactors at Plant Vogtle. Southern Alliance for Clean Energy contends the commission overlooked key issues - such as the impact of huge volumes of water the new reactors would use - in determining there are no significant environmental impacts that would prevent an early site permit from being issues.

Southern Nuclear Operating Company; Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for an Early Site Permit (ESP) Application at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant Site

The federal Atomic Safety and Licensing Board is holding sessions today and Monday in Augusta to hear any environmental concerns over the proposed construction of two additional nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro.

Southern Nuclear has secured a necessary federal permit to allow it to build two new nuclear reactors at Georgia Power's Plant Vogtle facility in Waynesboro, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday. The permit, called an early-site permit, means federal regulators have reviewed safety and environmental issues related to building two additional reactors at the site. It also lets Georgia Power do some preliminary construction work. The permit is good for 20 years.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Office of New Reactors has issued an Early Site Permit (ESP) and Limited Work Authorization (LWA) to Southern Nuclear Operating Company for the Vogtle ESP site near Augusta, Ga. The ESP, valid for up to 20 years, is the fourth such permit the NRC has approved. Successful completion of the ESP process resolves many site-related safety and environmental issues, and determines the site is suitable for possible future construction and operation of a nuclear power plant. The LWA allows a narrow set of construction activities at the site. Southern Nuclear filed its ESP application Aug. 15, 2006, and filed its LWA request on Aug. 16, 2007, seeking permission for construction activities limited to placement of engineered backfill, retaining walls, lean concrete, mudmats, and a waterproof membrane.

Southern Co.'s Plant Vogtle in Burke County has moved into position to become the demonstration site for the federal licensing process required of all nuclear power plants with the new Westinghouse AP1000 reactors. Previously, the Tennessee Valley Authority's Bellefonte site was to be what the Nuclear Regulatory Commission refers to as the "reference site," from which other companies applying for "combined operating license" permits could duplicate documentation already approved by the NRC.

"The contractor hired to manage the $14.5 billion addition of two new reactors to Plant Vogtle is negotiating with national labor unions to provide employees. The project, for which limited site work is already under way, is expected to generate up to 3,500 temporary construction jobs and 800 permanent positions after the reactors go online in 2016 and 2017. Gentry Brann, the director of corporate communications for The Shaw Group -- the project's construction manager -- acknowledged that discussions are ongoing but said it would be premature to release details."

"The United Steelworkers union has complained that a government-backed plan to build two nuclear reactors in Georgia will create jobs overseas that should go to American workers. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This Image Erik S. Lesser/European Pressphoto Agency The Vogtle nuclear power plant in Waynesboro, Ga. A new project would create construction jobs at the plant. Construction vehicles at the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Waynesboro, Ga. Southern Company hopes to operate new reactors. President Obama announced the government's approval of an $8.3 billion loan guarantee for the construction of the reactors on Tuesday, saying that one benefit of the project would be to create jobs. But in a letter sent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the international president of the union, Leo W. Gerard, said that he was concerned about "the potential foreign sourcing of components for these reactors," which he said "limits our nation's ability to address our unacceptably high unemployment rate.""

"President Barack Obama's announcement last week that he has promised funding in the Fiscal Year 2011 budget for new nuclear power reactors in the US, with some 54.5 billion dollars in federal loan guarantees, has ignited a firestorm of local and national resistance. Obama also announced that Atlanta-based Southern Company has been conditionally approved for 8.3 billion dollars in loan guarantees for two new nuclear reactors to be built at Plant Vogtle in Burke County, Georgia. The Obama Administration is considering at least a half-dozen additional loan applications for nuclear projects. The Vogtle expansion would be the first new nuclear plants in the US in 30 years."

"Plans are underway for Plant Vogtle to add two new reactors to its site in Burke County. But NBC Augusta 26 News is learning not everyone is thrilled about the expansion and new jobs. "Not in our backyard" seemed to be the theme at a public forum in Burke County. Sponsored by "Georgia Woman's Action for New Directions," the meeting allowed residents of nearby communities like Shell Bluff, to hear the other side of expansion. "The nuclear energy industry has led people to believe that it's something that is going to happen. They haven't gotten approval for the reactors to be built, so it's not necessarily a done deal," said Dianne Valentine, WAND member. "

"Georgia's Environmental Protection Division will hold a public meeting in April to discuss draft air quality permits associated with the $14.5 billion addition of two new reactors to Plant Vogtle. The permits are needed because of air pollution that could be created by the plant's emergency diesel engines, which will be kept at the site in case electrical power is unavailable whenever the nuclear plant is shut down. "There would be a total of 13 engines, and also diesel fuel storage tanks," said Tom Moorer, the environmental affairs manager for plant operator Southern Nuclear. "The large ones are there to provide emergency power in the event the plant must shut down and offsite power is not available.""

Environmental groups are asking the federal courts to block to plans to build two nuclear reactors at an east Georgia power plant. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy said Thursday it is asking a federal judge to review an early-site permit granted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to allow some construction at Georgia Power Co.'s Plant Vogtle facility. The groups hinge a part of the appeal on contentious legislation that passed this year allowing the utility to charge ratepayers ahead of time for the costs of building the two new reactors. The east Georgia project is scheduled to be completed in 2017. It could be the first new nuclear project to break ground in the country in three decades. Georgia Power is a subsidiary of Southern Co.

Environmental groups are asking the federal courts to block to plans to build two nuclear reactors at an east Georgia power plant. The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy said Thursday it is asking a federal judge to review an early-site permit granted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to allow some construction at Georgia Power Co.'s Plant Vogtle facility. The groups hinge a part of the appeal on contentious legislation that passed this year allowing the utility to charge ratepayers ahead of time for the costs of building the two new reactors. The east Georgia project is scheduled to be completed in 2017. It could be the first new nuclear project to break ground in the country in three decades. Georgia Power is a subsidiary of Southern Co.

"What if Deepwater Horizon was a nuclear plant? Extracting fossil fuels from ever-more-difficult environments is a dangerous business, a truth underlined spectacularly by the explosion at the Massey mine in April that killed 29 miners or the Deepwater Horizon spill that has left the Louisiana coast a blackened brackish mess. Not in decades has the nuclear option looked more attractive. Earlier this year, the government extended funding to build two new reactors at the Vogtle plant * in Georgia, likely the first reactors to go online since 1996, and a lot more may be in the works. Oil and coal disasters like Massey and Deepwater Horizon may be some of the best arguments for nuclear power."

"The construction contractor for Plant Vogtle, Shaw Group, temporarily stopped work after an internal audit showed new employees weren't given a questionnaire about their past or current abuse of drugs and alcohol. A Shaw spokesperson said employees were asked the questions verbally. "

"While our government is demanding that BP pay up for the oil disaster in the Gulf, it is offering up billions of Americans' hard earned money to another high risk energy player - the wealthy nuclear power industry to build costly new nuclear reactors. Will this be another disaster waiting to happen? Today the utility giant Southern Company agreed to the terms of its portion of the $8.3 billion conditional loan guarantee awarded by the Obama Administration back in February for the proposed two new reactors it wants to build along with its utility partners at Plant Vogtle in Georgia. So now U.S. taxpayers are officially on the hook if the project goes belly up. Which given the nuclear industry's past track record, is a likely scenario. Many of the problems with these nuclear loan guarantees are in the aptly titled report, "

Nuclear power will play a key role in helping the United States meet its growing energy needs, the chief executive of Birmingham-based Southern Nuclear Co. said Wednesday. In a Harbert Center luncheon speech to the Rotary Club of Birmingham, Jim Miller shared details of the two additional nuclear reactors that parent company Southern Co. of Atlanta seeks to build at its Vogtle power plant in Georgia.

Georgia Power Co.'s customers shouldn't pay $1.6 billion for two power plants before they're built on the site of Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, say the public-advocacy staff of the Georgia Public Service Commission. The staff filed its conclusions late Friday in documents with the commission. A spokeswoman for the company said its executives would have no comment until they have had more of a chance to review those documents.

Expanding the nuclear generating capacity of Georgia Power Co.'s Plant Vogtle would let electric utilities meet the needs of a rapidly growing state without worsening global warming, the project's supporters said Monday. But opponents said building two more nuclear reactors at the plant near Augusta would drive up costs for Georgia Power customers and drain already fragile water supplies.