High additional costs and delay
First new US nuclear power plant in decades goes online
08/01/2023 01:08 am
For some it’s a forward-looking breakthrough, for others it’s a cautionary tale: In the USA, the first newly built nuclear reactor has been connected to the grid for over 30 years. The executive group perished in the construction.
In the US state of Georgia, the first completely redesigned nuclear power reactor has gone online in more than 30 years. With its 1100 megawatts, the Vogtle 3 nuclear power plant should be able to supply an estimated 500,000 households and companies with electricity. Kim Greene, chief executive of Georgia Power, hailed the new reactor as an “impressive example” of Georgia’s reliable and resilient energy future, despite years of delays and immense costs. The US has the most nuclear power plants in the world.
From the 1980s, however, there were hardly any new buildings due to concerns about safety and the disposal of nuclear waste. Only recently has interest in nuclear energy revived due to its role as a low-carbon energy source. New nuclear power plants are also being built in France. In Germany, on the other hand, all nuclear power plants have gone offline.
For operator Georgia Power and pro-nuclear advocates, Vogtle 3 and a sister reactor, Vogtle 4, due to come online next year, are proof that nuclear power has a future in America. For critics and for many investors in the energy industry, the history of the power plant shows the opposite. It was originally planned that the reactors would go online in 2017.
Due to technical difficulties and breakdowns, not only the construction time has been repeatedly delayed. The costs have more than doubled from the one expected $14 billion to around $30 billion. The project is no longer economical.
The designer of the plant, the Westinghouse group, went bankrupt during the construction. Several comparable nuclear power plants planned in the US at about the same time as Vogtle 3 and 3 were halted during the construction or planning phase for cost reasons.