Georgia Power?s Todd Terrell tells Rome Rotary Club members Plant Vogtle?s two new units won?t come on line until 2017

Georgia Power?s Todd Terrell tells Rome Rotary Club members Plant Vogtle?s two new units won?t come on line until 2017

by Doug Walker, Associate Editor Rn T.Com

"; } description_element.innerHTML = description_html; } } catch (e) { } this.setClip( { url: clip_url, onBegin: function(clip) { download_link_element = $('player_anchor_22525092_5792022630_video_download_link'); description_element = $('player_anchor_22525092_5792022630_video_description'); if (download_link_element) { download_link_element.href = download_url; download_link_element.innerHTML = "download " + title; } if (description_element) { description_element.innerHTML = description; } return clip; } } ); if (autoplay) { this.play(); } }

Georgia Power's Todd Terrell talk nuclear power at Plant Vogtle with Rome Rotary

Overview of Vogtle Unit 3 construction and components from March 2013. (Photo contributed by Georgia Power)

slideshow

Georgia Power?s Todd Terrell talked about this derrick lift while speaking to the Rome Rotary Club on Thursday. The 460-ton Vogtle Unit 3 CR10 ?cradle? is shown being placed into the nuclear island in April, marking the first major lift of the Vogtle 3 and 4 project. (Photo contributed by Georgia Power)

slideshow Everything is NOT bigger in Texas. Consider the construction underway at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, which will add the first two nuclear power generation units in the U.S. in more than 30 years.

Each of the two units will be capable of producing 1,117 megawatts of electricity, or enough power to supply 250,000 homes.

?It will be the largest nuclear energy facility in the United States upon completion,? said Todd Terrell, communications director for Georgia Power Nuclear Development. ?It will be the only four-unit site in the U.S.?

Terrell spoke to the Rome Rotary Club on Thursday.

Two units already are in operation at the nuclear plant near Waynesboro. Georgia Power will own about 46.5 percent, Ogle?thorpe Power will own about 30 percent, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia will own 22 percent and the city of Dalton about 1.5 percent.

Terrell said that when Georgia Power did the analysis ? after being asked by the Georgia Public Service Commission to bring forward generation options to meet future demand ? ?this nuclear project beat the next-best option by $4 billion.? And he said the asset would be available for 60 years.

?When we evaluated the capital investment versus the fuel investment of other alternatives, it beats natural gas over 60 years by $4 billion,? Terrell said.

Rome Mayor Evie Mc?Niece and Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce Board Chairman Doc Kib?ler visited the construction site several weeks ago.

?It?s the most amazing thing I?ve ever seen,? Mc?Niece said. ?We actually were allowed to go into the containment zone.?

McNiece also said she was most impressed by the security measures that are in place at the site in Waynes?boro.

Reps. Eddie Lumsden and Katie Dempsey of Rome also joined the local leaders for the tour.

But back to the ?bigness? of the project, which starts with 500,000 cubic yards of concrete for construction. That?s enough to pour a standard-size sidewalk from Miami to Seattle, Wash.

Terrell pointed out that eight times more concrete would be used for the new units than was used to build the Georgia Dome. And they?ll have enough structural steel ? 23,000 tons ? to build 25,000 cars.

Terrell said that when Georgia Power first won approval from the PSC, the project was projected to mean a 10 percent increase in rates.

?We now anticipate the rate impact to you, the customer, is going to be much lower. It?s going to be in the 6 to 8 percent range,? Terrell said. ?It?s a better deal than what the PSC certified three years ago.

The construction project is also the largest job-producer in the state of Georgia, he said. Some 2,500 workers are on site at this point. Within two years, 5,000 construction workers will be on site.

He also said the derrick being used to lift some of the components of the facility into place is 10 feet taller than the Washington Monument.

?Its largest lift will be close to 1,000 tons ? three times heavier than the Statue of Liberty,? Terrell said.

The company is already training operators on a digital simulator, the first new training program approved by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operators in 30 years.

Terrell said the project was rocking right along during the initial phases of construction. Then came the tsunami and disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan.

Approval of the design of the Westinghouse AP 1000 reactor unit was delayed for review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which in turn delayed the issuance of Georgia Power?s license for the new units at Plant Vogtle.

?We thought we could finish it in 2016. We?re now asking for 2017,? Terrell said.

Components for the plant are being built all over the world. Terrell said Georgia Power has quality assurance monitors at each construction site to make sure the equipment is built to the highest safety standards.

Unlike Fukushima, there is no AC power required to shut the unit down in case of emergency. Operators could walk away from the plant for up to 72 hours in case of emergency and it would still maintain cooling, another major issues at Fukushima.

Georgia Power Northwest Region Vice President Anne Kaiser said the final price tag for the project is estimated at $14 billion.

Source: http://romenews-tribune.com/bookmark/22531722

rick santorum ozzie guillen castro comments phish gluten free diet barry zito mac virus santorum drops out