NuStart Members Step Toward COL Completion
05/01/09
NuStart Energy Development is working with Southern Company and the Tennessee Valley Authority to take the next step toward demonstrating the nation’s new process for licensing a nuclear power plant and bringing advanced nuclear technologies to market.
NuStart member utilities, including Southern Company and TVA, and the design-centered working group focused on Westinghouse’s AP1000 standardized reactor design are consulting with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a process for transferring the reference combined construction and operating license application (COLA) from TVA’s Bellefonte nuclear site to Southern Nuclear’s Vogtle Electric Generating Plant. The effort is designed to align industry and regulatory resources with a license application that has specific near-term construction plans.
The reference application contains standard licensing, engineering, technical, quality, and safety information that future applicants can use to develop their own applications much more efficiently. This process allows the NRC to conduct a one-time review for standard material and then apply that review to future applications. The TVA and Southern Nuclear applications reference the NRC design certification of Westinghouse’s AP1000 standardized design. The change in reference application means that all future COL applications for AP1000 technology in the U.S. will reference documentation approved by the NRC from the Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4 application.
TVA and NuStart have completed the standard design work contained in the reference COLA that was submitted for the Bellefonte Nuclear site in October, 2007, and that information has been provided to the NRC for scheduled review.
“In order to maintain this momentum, NuStart member utilities recognize that it is appropriate to align the resources for future review to an application with specific near-term construction plans, such as Southern Company’s Plant Vogtle” said NuStart Energy Development President Marilyn Kray.
“This transfer of the AP1000 reference plant is a very positive sign for the industry. The NuStart program was originally envisioned to be a ‘demonstration’ of the licensing process, but has evolved into one of the critical success factors necessary to support the actual deployment of a new nuclear plant in the US,” added Kray.
The AP1000 utilities will continue to work through NuStart to maintain the high level of cooperation experienced to date. This cooperation has exemplified the NRC’s concept of a design centered review approach, led to efficiency in the process, and upheld the industry commitment to plant standardization.
“We’ve made tremendous progress since submitting the application for Bellefonte, providing the standard content required in the 11-part COLA and responding to more than 95 percent of approximately 600 requests for additional information from the NRC within the committed timeframe,” said TVA’s Vice President of Nuclear Generation Development Jack Bailey who serves as TVA’s representative to NuStart.
“Designating an application with near-term construction plans certainly advances the industry’s efforts through NuStart to demonstrate an effective licensing process. Aligning resources to support near-term construction creates a valuable base of experience we can use going forward in the standardization of new plant construction and bringing new technology to market,” he said.
Southern Nuclear Company, on behalf of the Plant Vogtle co-owners, has submitted a COL application for its Plant Vogtle site that references the standard design in the Bellefonte application.
“Southern Company is pleased that the Vogtle site has been selected by NuStart, because this change recognizes our leadership role in the development of the AP1000 licensing process,” said Southern Nuclear Executive Vice President Buzz Miller, who serves as Southern Company’s representative to NuStart. “Nuclear energy is an important part of our diverse fuel mix, and we look forward to licensing new units at Plant Vogtle in order to provide clean, safe, reliable and economical energy for our customers in Georgia.”
Southern Nuclear anticipates earning regulatory approval of its Early Site Permit (ESP) for two additional units at Plant Vogtle later this year. Southern Nuclear expects to receive its combined license in 2011 and have new units on line in the 2016 to 2017 time frame.
Georgia Power, the majority owner of Plant Vogtle, has received certification for the new units from the Georgia Public Service Commission, and as a result, non-safety related construction activities have begun at the plant site. Southern Nuclear plans to begin safety-related construction once it receives appropriate approvals from the NRC.
Providing more than 60 percent of the electricity generated by nuclear power in the United States, the member utilities of NuStart Energy Development actively pursue diverse portfolios of generation options to meet their customers’ power needs safely, reliably, efficiently, and responsibly with respect for the environment. The member utilities of NuStart Energy Development support any power company’s work to further new generation options.
Members of NuStart Energy consortium are:
DTE Energy, Detroit, MI, Duke Energy, Charlotte, NC, EDF International North America, Washington, D.C., Entergy Nuclear, Jackson, MS, Exelon Generation, Philadelphia, PA, Florida Power & Light Company, Juno Beach, FL, Progress Energy, Raleigh, NC, South Carolina Electric & Gas, Columbia, SC, Southern Company, Atlanta, GA, Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Wilmington, NC, Westinghouse Electric Co., Pittsburgh, PA
Source:
http://www.nustartenergy.com/DisplayArticle.aspx?ID=20090501-01