COVER STORY | VOGTLE 3 & 4
A new age for US nuclear
With the commissioning of Vogtle Unit 3, the USA has completed its first new reactor in decades. Featuring a Gen III+ reactor, completion of the project is a breakthrough that potentially signals a new era for nuclear power
WITH THE START OF COMMERCIAL operations anticipated any day now, Vogtle Unit 3 and its sister Unit 4 are the first new nuclear units to be built in the US in over 30 years. As they close in on electrical generation, for the nuclear industry, the completion of Unit 3 of the Vogtle power plant marks a hugely important infrastructure investment project and for many signals a new era of US nuclear development. Located near Waynesboro in Burke County, east Georgia
near the border with South Carolina, Vogtle 3 & 4 are the only two new nuclear units currently under construction in the United States. Each features an 1,117 MW AP1000 pressurised water reactor (PWR) from Westinghouse and, again, this is the first plant in the US to see these AP units deployed, although four AP1000 reactors – Sanmen 1 and 2 and Haiyang 1 and 2 – were commissioned in 2018 in China. As a GEN III+ reactor, the AP (Advanced Passive) design is
the first such reactor to receive design certification from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. As the names suggests, this design features passive safety systems that allow the nuclear core to be cooled even in the absence of operator interventions or mechanical assistance, for example. The AP1000 plant’s passive safety systems use only natural forces such as gravity, natural circulation and compressed gas to achieve their critical safety functions and no pumps,
fans, diesel engines, chillers or other active machinery are necessary to maintain safety, with the exception of the valves that automatically actuate the passive safety systems. Each of the four units features a natural circulation
cooling tower for the main steam condenser and a pair of secondary, smaller, mechanical draft coolers that provide service water and cooling for reactor decay heat if necessary. Each of the main cooling towers stands at around 170 metres tall. Units 1&2, which are 1,215 MWe reactors, were also supplied by Westinghouse. They were completed in 1987 and 1989, respectively. In 2009, the US Nuclear Regulatory Authority renewed their licences for an additional 20 years. Unit 1 is now scheduled to run until January 2047 while Unit 2 is currently licenced through to September 2049. The two new units are expected to have an operational lifespan of between 60 and 80 years, suggesting they will potentially still be operating through to the next century. At around the same time as the licence renewal, in
early 2009, Georgia Public Service Commission approved the Vogtle expansion reactors and construction activities began the same year. Initially, the units were expected to enter service in 2016 and 2017, but suffered a series of
Above: Units 3 & 4 feature Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, a firsty for the USA All images: Georgia Power Company
14 | July 2023 |
www.neimagazine.com
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