New Nuclear Plants Status

[Gamecock]

http://dms.psc.sc.gov/dockets/dockets.cfc?Method=DocketDetail&DocketID=114122

http://www.thestate.com/2012/10/04/2467840/sceg-critics-debate-who-funds.html

Several articles in SC newspapers on the proposed new nuclear reactors outside of Columbia.....might not be a done deal that they will be built.

[HydroDave63]

Not with nat gas solidly below $4/MMBtu.

If we roll the tape back a few years, it was rising gas and coal prices coming out of the 01-03 recession, that made nuclear attractive by 2006 or so. Thus, more ruminations of a Nuclear Renaissance that had folks using the phrase in print and conversation by 2006-07.

http://www.nukeworker.com/forum/index.php/topic,8367.0.html

Our problem is, that with waiting for bean counters and focus groups and the right party to hold Congress and/or White House, it is like trying to steer a fully laden container ship, taking many many miles and much time to make the course change such that it doesn't wreck the business model.

I'll bet a B&G breakfast the new builds end with Vogtle 3&4, and Watts Bar 2. We have shoddy rebar and excess corporate overheads to thank for the cost overruns that dampened the forward momentum.

[NukeLDO]

Until America wakes up and realizes the true cost of that "cheap" natural gas extracted by fracking, I think the southern plants currently under construction are the end of that line of nuclear renaissance thought.

[ddm502001]

By the news yesterday B&W got the research grant money to continue with the mPower design, only $60 million so it won't last long and far from the promised $452M the DOE threw out as a carrot last spring.  The Westinghouse SMR design has been setback with no funding so it is probably dead along with the Enperion and I don't remember the other SMR design.

[GLW]

Until America wakes up and realizes the true cost of that "cheap" natural gas extracted by fracking,.....

I disagree,...

There are better alternatives to the "cocktail" fracking initiated in the WW2 era,...

Anything that gets us out of the Crescent Moon backyard is better than the last forty years,...

.... I think the southern plants currently under construction are the end of that line of nuclear renaissance thought.

I agree,....

[GLW]

The COL applications suggest that the floodgates are firmly intact.

As of now we have 100 power reactors committed to putting power on the grid, which makes the stats too easy to pass up:

Licensed in 1960's   2
Licensed in 1970's   49
Licensed in 1980's   44
Licensed in 1990's   5

Nothing has been licensed in the last 17 years,...

Only 8%+ of the current power reactors have been licensed in the last 25 years including 2013 which is half over and nothing is getting licensed this year.

Compare that to the stat that 91%+ of all the current reactors were put on the grid in the smaller 20 year period from 1970 to 1990,...

And now Yucca or any alternatives is done and gone,...

On September 28, 2012, President Obama signed into law the Continuing Appropriations
Resolution, 2013 (P.L. 112-175). The act continues appropriations until March 27, 2013, for
Energy and Water Development programs at 0.612% above the FY2012-enacted levels, with
several exceptions. On March 26, 2013, the President signed H.R. 933, the FY2013 Defense and
Military Construction/VA, Full Year Continuing Resolution (P.L. 113-6). The act funds Energy
and Water Development accounts at the FY2012 enacted level for the rest of FY2013, with some
exceptions, and subject to the sequestration requirements of the Budget Control Act which went
into effect March 1, 2013.
In addition, issues specific to Energy and Water Development programs included
• the distribution of appropriations for Corps (Title I) and Reclamation (Title II)
projects that have historically received congressional appropriations above
Administration requests;
• alternatives to the proposed national nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain,
Nevada, which the Administration has abandoned (Title III: Nuclear Waste
Disposal); and
• proposed FY2013 spending levels for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
(EERE) programs (Title III) that are 25% higher

www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42498.pdf

Indigenous fuel manufacturing capacity is not booming,...

U.S. Moves to Abandon Costly Reactor Fuel Plant

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/us/us-moves-to-abandon-costly-reactor-fuel-plant.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Paducah uranium plant to close at month's end; 1,100 jobs lost

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130524/NEWS01/305240064/Paducah-uranium-plant-close-month-s-end?gcheck=1&goback=%2Egde_2530360_member_244723506&nclick_check=1

Not to mention the Final Rules due in 2016 which may give any business pause when being served notice they have a 300 year liability:

...The staff considers a timeframe of up to 300 years of storage to be appropriate for
characterization and prediction of aging effects and aging management issues for EST. The
staff may adjust this analytical period based on the expanded gap assessment results, expected
in 2012, which will identify technical and regulatory needs to support the development of an EST
framework and WC update...

http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1102/ML110260244.pdf

Where the years 1991 - 2000 were decline, and 2001 - 2008 were stagnant, the years 2009 - 2016 are nails in the coffin,...

No Renaissance, more like life support with progressive euthanasia already planned and in the books,...

I'm just saying,...

[DSO]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/business/energy-environment/nuclear-powers-future-may-hinge-on-georgia-project.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Doesn't look promising

[Marlin]

   I heard from someone working at Bellefonte that the closure of Paducah enrichment facility has lowered the electrical demand and may mean shut down of the plant. This article seems to confirm it.

http://nuclearstreet.com/nuclear_power_industry_news/b/nuclear_power_news/archive/2013/06/13/tva-to-cut-budget_2c00_-jobs-at-bellefonte-reactor-project-061302.aspx

[Higgs]

I'm glad I'm working at a plant that will run until I retire.

I have been prospected by the new enrichment facility in NM.

I'm not sure I would consider a job there stable.

Justin

[cheme09]

I'm glad I'm working at a plant that will run until I retire.

Me and my buddy have talked about this before.  Even though our plant's licence will expire more than 20 years from now, given the events of Crystal River and SONGS, the plant could shut down at anytime if there's some type of repair that requires exorbitant expenses.

[Higgs]

Me and my buddy have talked about this before.  Even though our plant's licence will expire more than 20 years from now, given the events of Crystal River and SONGS, the plant could shut down at anytime if there's some type of repair that requires exorbitant expenses.

That is true. My company can't afford to lose my plant, so we get the money needed to keep it running well. Of course, there's always the unforeseen, but in general, I feel pretty safe that unless the price of nuclear severely tanks, they'll keep us running until end of life.


Our sister plants are Davis Besse and Perry..., so you can begin to see why Beaver Valley is the crown jewel.

Speaking of CR and SONGS, we've scooped up around 10 ROs from those two plants to put into our first ever "direct RO" class.

Justin

[fiveeleven]

There is a plant in the midwest that last October was an industry top quartile performer and the top performer in the fleet by far. Millions spent on  performance enhancements / upgrades for both the humans and the equipment, and a license good to 2033. 300 miles across the state those same millions are being spent on 2 plants with the intent of running them into the next decade and beyond. Current status of the aforementioned plant: Tave at ambient, Tstm at ambient, PZR. pressure 14.7 psig, RCP oil in drums, relative value of the plant is current value of scrap metal. Who da thunk it.

[HydroDave63]

There is a plant in the midwest that last October was an industry top quartile performer and the top performer in the fleet by far. Millions spent on  performance enhancements / upgrades for both the humans and the equipment, and a license good to 2033. 300 miles across the state those same millions are being spent on 2 plants with the intent of running them into the next decade and beyond. Current status of the aforementioned plant: Tave at ambient, Tstm at ambient, PZR. pressure 14.7 psig, RCP oil in drums, relative value of the plant is current value of scrap metal. Who da thunk it.

It is one of the weaknesses of human nature, not appreciating what they had until it is gone.

Epic heat in the Southwest this week, prices went north of $100/MWh at the SONGS node, only coastal breezes saving SoCal from the same heat

[Ksheed]

Another Vogtle Reactor Deadline Passes: Taxpayer Advocates Warn Government Keeps Pushing Bad Deal That Wall Street Won't Touch

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/07/02/5539732/another-vogtle-reactor-deadline.html#storylink=cpy

[BetaAnt]

This is an interesting paper. Fracking could end up killing the nuclear industry.

Renaissance in Reverse: Competition Pushes Aging U.S. Nuclear Reactors to the Brink of Economic Abandonment

http://www.vermontlaw.edu/Academics/Environmental_Law_Center/News/Senior_Energy_Fellows_Report_Cited_in_News_Outlets.htm?goback=%2Egde_146596_member_263039889

[HeavyD]

This guy has become the new Arnie Gunderson, only from a financial approach to the industry.  EVERYTHING this guy writes is structured to be anti-nuclear, hidden behind the veil of economics.

[milo124]

This guy has become the new Arnie Gunderson, only from a financial approach to the industry.  EVERYTHING this guy writes is structured to be anti-nuclear, hidden behind the veil of economics.

That may be true but he makes a pretty strong argument and money talks volumes.

[Contract SRO]

That may be true but he makes a pretty strong argument and money talks volumes.

You are correct about the money talking.  The problem with that thought alone assumes that the cost will always remain as it is today.  Utilities have to be looking at the future.  I was once told by a stock broker that utilities that do not have a 5, 10, 15, 25 and 50 year plan will not be successful longterm.

I do not know if that is perfectly correct but I do know that they are looking at the possibilities much further in the future than most media and consumer advocates are.  The cost of natural gas will not stay at the low prices of todays market and when it begins to escalate the same people that were complaining about the cost of nuclear power plant construction will be the same people complaining about the short sightedness of the utilities for not planning nuclear plant construction so that it would be available when the gas becomes the leading factor in the much higher cost of electricity.


It doesn't require much common sense and understanding of human nature to look backwards for your policies for the future.  But with that approach the future will be much more costly than most can endure.

[GLW]

....It doesn't require much common sense and understanding of human nature to look backwards for your policies for the future.  But with that approach the future will be much more costly than most can endure.

Assuredly so, and looking backwards shows us that without an acceptable garbage dump, nuclear's 10,000 year half lives (300+ for death dose considerations) wipes out any corporations 50 year liability contingency plan,...

The country is not even 300 years old and the list of "world powers" that have come and gone for the last 300 years indicates something better than pigeon holed ISFSIs in the great wooded backwaters is needed for going forward,...

almost forgot,...

[HeavyD]

One key point not touched on by "experts" like Mark Cooper are the current construction projects of major natural gas pipelines moving from the deposit fields to the coast.  Within the next 3 - 5 years those pipelines will be completed and the US will stand on the edge of becoming the largest net exporter of liquid natural gas to the rest of the world.

If anyone thinks the companies that own the drilling rights to those fields is going to maintain the price of gas low as a favor to the US is in serious need of a drug screening.  The price will suddenly be a major market commodity; the demand from Europe alone could triple or quadruple the current price.  That will signal the point that milo124 is talking about.

[Ksheed]

If anyone thinks the companies that own the drilling rights to those fields is going to maintain the price of gas low as a favor to the US is in serious need of a drug screening. 

Funny and true.

[Rennhack]

http://www.energyonline.com/Industry/News.aspx?NewsID=7724&Florida_Governor_Approves_New_Nuclear_Reactors_at_FPL%3Fs_Turkey_Point_Power_Plant

Florida Governor Approves New Nuclear Reactors at FPL's Turkey Point Power Plant

May 15, 2015

The Governor of Florida and the State Cabinet approved the request from Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) to install two new nuclear reactors at the company's Turkey Point Plant, located approximately 25 miles south of Miami, Florida. The project approved includes nearly 90 miles of transmission lines in Miami-Dade County. The approval is an important step forward to provide FPL the option to construct the non-carbon emitting reactors.

FPL continues to seek approval for the site, construction and operation from the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). FPL submitted its application to the NRC for a combined license (COL) for two Westinghouse Advanced Passive 1000 (AP1000) Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs) in June 2009.

FPL has not decided to construct the two, 1,100-MW reactors, and the operational dates for the reactors would likely not be until approximately 2022 and 2023.

The existing Turkey Point Plant includes two natural gas/oil conventional steam units (Units 1 and 2), two nuclear units (Units 3 and 4), one combined cycle natural gas unit (Unit 5), and nine small diesel generators.[/size]

[HeavyD]

Latest milestone for us here at VC Summer.  Enjoy the pics!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/scegnews/sets/72157629244341909/

[Rennhack]

Latest milestone for us here at VC Summer.  Enjoy the pics!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/scegnews/sets/72157629244341909/

Thanks.  Those are fantastic Pictures.

(You can also upload them to our photo gallery, if you like)

[GLW]

"The realistic expectations of industry experts are that the first new nuclear power plant will begin commercial operation in 2017, with a potential for up to 15-20 new plants coming online in the years shortly thereafter.

The issue is simple and inescapable: half of the nuclear power radiation protection workforce is 50 years old or older and is likely to retire or leave the industry for other reasons over the next 10 years. At the same time, the entry rate of new radiation protection staff into the industry is on a declining trend, such that only about 10 percent of the workforce is under 40 years
old. This means that the nuclear power industry will either need to develop and bring into the workplace more than 1,000 new health physicists and technicans over the next 10 years, or it will need to substantially change how radiation protection is conducted at nuclear power plants in the future, so as not to need as many staff, or both."

Ralph Andersen, CHP
Health Physics News, July 2008

Is WB2 going to load fuel within the next 34 days?