Vogtle Unit 3 during construction (Image: F.D. Thomas)
Earlier this year, reactor unit 3 at Georgia’s Vogtle nuclear plant came online, the first built-from-scratch nuclear reactor in the US to begin to do so in thirty years. The Department of Energy states that the startup of Vogtle unit 3 signifies that “The United States is all-in on new nuclear.” However, the road to startup has not been easy.
The Westinghouse-designed unit, which came online in July of this year, has the capacity to produce 1,100 megawatts and power half a million homes and businesses. Unit four, which began fueling also in July of this year, will have a similar capacity after its startup in fourth quarter 2023 or first quarter 2024. This seems like a great benefit to Georgia’s power grid, yet the construction of these reactors
has caused agitation among consumers.
Construction for the units began all the way back in 2009, with the units initially intended for startup in 2016. However, shortages and technical problems riddled the project, causing a multitude of delays and ultimately postponing startup to 2023/2024. Additionally, the project went way over budget. Initially proposed to cost a total of $14 billion, the project now stands at a total expense of $35 billion.
This expense during construction is detrimental to the overall utility of the plant: initially the reactors were meant to bring cheap electricity to consumers, however residents near the plant will now only see an increase in utility cost in order to make up for the accumulated cost of the plant.
What does this mean for the US nuclear industry in the future? First, although Vogtle 3 marks a significant point in the United States’ ability to realize large reactor construction projects, the excessive cost and time required of the project puts barriers in the way of future utilities constructing large reactor projects.
This means that going forward, the nuclear energy utilities in the US will have more of a focus on small modular reactors (SMRs) and microreactors. These types of reactors can provide a flexible energy supply, not of the same magnitude as the current large-scale reactors, but with shorter construction times and a significantly lower up-front cost.
Still with the challenges faced by the Vogtle units, there will be challenges to implementing more forms of nuclear energy in the US. In the same way nuclear energy is needed to power our society, our society is needed to power nuclear energy. It is up to all of us to advocate for the future of nuclear energy and build a sustainable world.
Sources and further reading:
5 Things You Should Know About Plant Vogtle | Department of Energy