Nuclear Reactors Near Augusta Get License Renewals

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed the operating licenses for two nuclear reactors at the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Waynesboro, near Augusta.

The renewal is good until the year 2047 for one of the existing reactors and 2049 for the other.

Plant Vogtle, meanwhile, has received widespread attention -- and controversy -- as it also seeks to build two more reactors. Georgia Power, a majority owner of Plant Vogtle, and Southern Nuclear Operating Company, which operates the plant, have been seeking approval to build the additional reactors. The state public service commission says the reactors would meet an increasing demand for electricity in Georgia. Environmental groups, meanwhile, have argued that the demand is not big enough to justify the reactors.

The state public service commission has given the okay for the proposed new reactors, but the NRC is still reviewing the proposal. Construction of the reactors would be among the first in the U.S. in decades.

Environmental groups, meanwhile, oppose the proposed new reactors.

For more information about the existing reactors and the license renewals, click here.

State Public Service Commission Approves New Nuclear Reactors for Plant Vogtle in Eastern Georgia

The state Public Service Commission approved Georgia Power's plan to build two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, near Augusta.

The panel voted 4-1 on Tuesday.

Set to be completed in 2017, the reactors could be the first new nuclear units to start construction in the nation since the 1970s. The proposal must also receive an OK from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Georgia Power said the $14 billion project is needed to meet surging electricity demand in Georgia. But critics say there are questions about where the waste would be stored.

The legislature has passed a bill that would allow the utility to collect about $1.6 billion in costs from ratepayers before the reactors go online. Gov. Sonny Perdue must still sign the bill.

(AP)

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Percentage of power from proposed new nuclear reactors in Georgia would go out of state

The Georgia Public Service Commission on Wednesday resumes a second round of hearings into whether Georgia Power should raise its rates sooner, rather than later.

The increase would pay for two new proposed nuclear reactors near Waynesboro to generate more electricity for Georgia.

The reactors at the Plant Vogtle nuclear power plant would generate enough electricity for 1.4 million homes.

Georgia Power's key argument for the reactors...demand for electricity in Georgia is increasing with the state's population.

Georgia Power is the majority owner of Vogtle. It owns nearly half the plant. The company wants to increase the rates of its customers beginning in 2011, when construction could start if all goes as planned with federal regulators.

But not all the power from Vogtle will stay in Georgia.

Another one of Vogtle's owners, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG), would sell about 65 percent of the power it receives from Vogtle to electricity suppliers in Alabama and Florida.

That means about 15 percent of Vogtle's new power generation would go out of state.

"Because the (reactors) are built in large blocs, and you receive that resource in a large bloc, and our load changes incrementally over time, it allows us to grow into that resource over time," says Steve Jackson, a vice president at MEAG.

Jackson says the sale will happen for the first 20 years that Vogtle is in service. He expects MEAG's consumers will save money as a result.

MEAG does not plan to charge extra for power to finance construction of the two reactors until after construction is completed.

Environmental groups opposing the plan, though, have questioned whether there's enough demand in Georgia to justify the two nuclear reactors.

"It makes it very confusing to Georgians whether we need these new reactors right now in Georgia," says Sara Barczak, a spokeswoman for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "We're using a lot of Georgia's resources to provide air conditioners and power tv's in Alabama and Florida. I don't think a lot of people would be too excited about that."

Georgia Power says all of its share of power will serve only customers in Georgia.

It's hoping an incremental increase in rates during construction, instead of after, will save billions of dollars in interest.

That rate increase would cost the average homeowner about $109 more a year by 2018...but Georgia Power says waiting to increase rates will cost about $30 a year more.

The new reactors would nearly double the amount of power generated at the plant.

Panel says no to charging ratepayers for nuclear reactors before construction

A panel of the Georgia Public Service Commission says Georgia Power should delay charging customers for construction of two new nuclear power plants in eastern Georgia.

Georgia Power wants to charge its ratepayers now for the construction of two new nuclear reactors at the Plant Vogtle power plant near Waynesboro. They say that would reduce the cost of the plant.

But an independent panel, the PSC's public advocacy staff, has recommended against that.

The panel says current ratepayers should not subsidize a plant that will serve future ratepayers. They say the construction costs should only factor into rates after the plant goes online in 2017, if the new reactors are approved.

Georgia Power is the primary owner of Plant Vogtle. The company estimates the cost of construction to be about $9.8 billion, with Georgia Power funding $4.5 billion. Georgia Power has said its share of the construction costs could increase to $6.4 billion with interest.

The panel's recommendation, meanwhile, is not final. The PSC will make that decision in March.

PSC to hear from public on nuclear expansion today

The Georgia Public Service Commission today is seeking public comment on whether it should approve plans for the expansion of a nuclear power plant in eastern Georgia.

The PSC is considering whether Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro should be allowed to build two new nuclear reactors.

The expansion would be among the first in the U.S. in 30 years.

Southern Nuclear Operating Company operates Vogtle. Officials there say the expansion would help meet the growing demand for electricity in Georgia.

But it could also mean a rate hike in energy costs for customers to pay for it.

Environmental groups also argue that new reactors would seriously impact the Savannah River. Proponents deny that.

Any expansion requires approval from both the PSC and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

After today's comment period, the PSC this week will hear testimony from Georgia Power, a primary owner of Plant Vogtle.

It's scheduled to hear from opponents of the expansion in January.

Today's public hearing begins at 10 a.m. at the PSC's offices in Atlanta.

For more information on the web, go to psc.state.ga.us.

Plant Vogtle in Waynesboro gets favorable response on proposed new nuclear reactors

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has found that there are no environmental impacts that would prevent Southern Nuclear Operating Co., a part of Southern Company, from getting an early site permit to construct two new nuclear reactors in eastern Georgia.

It's a preliminary, but important, step in the lengthy approval process for Plant Vogtle in Waynesboro.

Environmental and safety evaluations of the proposed construction site are conducted throughout the early site permit process.

Southern Nuclear must also get a construction and operating license to build.

That decision likely won't happen until 2009.

Environmental groups, meanwhile, argue the new reactors would use too much water from the Savannah River, something that Southern Nuclear denies.

The groups also fear a nuclear accident.

Southern Nuclear has said it has not committed to building the reactors, even though it's pursuing the permit and license.

The reactors would generate electricity for Georgia Power customers.

Supporters and opponents of proposed nuclear reactors speak out in Augusta

For the first time in nearly 30 years, nuclear power plants are seeking to build more reactors, including the Vogtle electricity plant near Augusta.

Southern Nuclear Operating Company, a division of Southern Company, wants to build two new reactors at the plant, which is located near Waynesboro.

The federal Atomic Safety and Licensing Board hosted the latest in a series of public hearings on Monday in Augusta.

Judith Stocker lives near Vogtle, where two reactors have operated since the 1980s. She worries about water pollution and health issues such as cancer, and wonders if Vogtle caused the problems. She has no evidence that Vogtle has, but would like to see more studies conducted.

"It's a little bit of a stretch for it to be a coincidence," she says. "And even if it can't be definitively linked to the reactors at this time, we should make sure, take some time, find out where the problem is."

But Clint Wolfe, director of Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness, says nuclear energy is safe, and instead worries about health problems caused by other energy sources, such as fossil fuels. He says emphysema and lung cancer have resulted from exposure to these energy sources, particularly among coal miners.

"For folks to be so really preoccupied with -- quote -- safety around nuclear is ironic since there's never been anyone in this country killed by a nuclear power plant," he says.

Southern Nuclear hopes to have the reactors online by 2017.

Approval by regulatory authorities is at least a year away.

Appeals from opponents could delay approval even further.

Nuclear power plant seeks two new reactors near Augusta

A proposal to build two new nuclear reactors near Augusta is generating controversy.

The public is invited to speak about the proposal at a hearing tonight.

Southern Nuclear Operating Company wants to build two new nuclear reactors at the Vogtle Electricity Plant near Waynesboro.

Both supporters and opponents of of the plan will speak at a public hearing tonight before the federal Atomic Safety and Licensing Board in Augusta.

Proponents say that nuclear energy is cheaper and is cleaner than other forms of energy, such as coal.

But opponents fear the reactors will use too much water from the Savannah River.

They also fear the risk of a nuclear accident.

Plant Vogtle already has two nuclear reactors.

Company officials say the new reactors would generate electricity for about 558,000 average homes in Georgia.

They hope to have the reactors online by 2017.

The hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel on Perimeter Parkway in Augusta. A presentation regarding a permit for the reactors will begin at 5 p.m.