TVA Signs on for Mixed Oxide Fuel to be Produced Near Augusta

The Tennessee Valley Authority, a federal nuclear operation and a major energy supplier in the South, has tentatively signed on to use mixed oxide fuel from a plant under construction near Augusta.

TVA has signed a letter of intent for the fuel, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration, and a final decision will come after the agency evaluates use of the fuel for reactors at the Sequoyah and Browns Ferry nuclear plants in Tennessee and Alabama, respectively.

The fuel would be made from weapons grade plutonium -- a total of 34 metric tons -- at the Savannah River Site, a massive federal entity near Augusta that processes nuclear materials, and used in commercial nuclear reactors. It is currently under construction, and at $4.8 billion, is one of the most expensive projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

TVA is so far the only agency on board to use the fuel. Duke Energy, which provides power to the Carolinas, did not renew a contract with the MOX plant earlier this year after delays in construction of the plant. The company has said it supports the plant, however, and might consider renewing its plans for the fuel at a later date.

Supporters of the MOX plant say it's a crucial part of nuclear nonproliferation efforts and provides yet another resource for energy. Opponents say the MOX project is too expensive and dangerous; they also have expressed skepticism over whether the fuel will work in the reactors.

Officials expect the plant to start producing fuel in 2016.

Federal Government Considers Savannah River Site Near Augusta for Mercury Storage

The federal government is considering the Savannah River Site near Augusta, along with six other sites, for the storage of more than 10,000 metric tons of mercury.

Officials are searching for a site to store the mercury, as federal law will ban the sale or export of the element by 2013, and require the federal government to store it.

Mercury is produced in the manufacturing of caustic soda and chlorine at a handful of plants in the U.S. It's also a by-product in gold mining, and in recycling and waste recovery.

Mercury is controversial, since it causes developmental disabilities in children, and also harm fetal development.

It's already a sore spot in Augusta, where environmental groups have been calling for the Olin Corporation to stop using the element in the manufacture of chlorine. A bill in Congress also seeks to eliminate mercury from the few chlorine plants that still use it. Olin, meanwhile, has maintained that is mercury use its safe.

The Savannah River Site is a massive federal entity that processes nuclear materials near Augusta.

The U.S. Department of Energy, meanwhile, will hold a public comment period on the proposal to store mercury. There will be a public meeting in North Augusta, South Carolina on July 30.

For more information, click here.

Nuclear Companies Near Augusta Say They Need Thousands of Workers

A new study says the nuclear industry could potentially create thousands of new jobs in the Augusta area throughout the next decade.

The region's major employers, including companies who manage operations at commercial nuclear power plants in Georgia and South Carolina as well as a federal site that processes nuclear materials near Augusta, say they will need 10,000 jobs.

The jobs would range from nuclear chemists and computer engineers to plant operators and sheet metal workers.

The study comes as power companies seek to meet rising demand for electricity with nuclear energy. That includes the construction of nuclear power plants would be among the first built in the U.S. in decades. State public service commission officials in both Georgia and South Carolina have already okayed new reactors, but the companies building them are still seeking approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Construction of a controversial new nuclear fuel plant near Augusta is also underway, although no power companies have committed yet to buying the fuel.

The Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization commissioned the study through Booz Allen, a technology consulting firm. The organization has said it is looking to develop a strategy between private and public entities to meet the growing demand for nuclear workers. The organization is also working to lease a portion of privately owned land at the site for development, possibly for a nuclear energy park or reactors that would be used for reactors.

Across the U.S., meanwhile, the nuclear industry has said it is looking to step up the recruitment and education of a new generation of workers to meet the emerging demand.

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.

Federal Audit Questions Safety of Projects at Savannah River Site Near Augusta

The U.S. Department of Energy’s inspector general is sharply criticizing the DOE for safety and quality assurance controls in multiple projects at the Savannah River Site near Augusta.

An audit report by the inspector general focuses on the procurement of materials used in the construction of a mixed oxide fuel plant (MOX) that would convert weapons-grade plutonium to fuel for commercial reactors, as well as a tritium extraction facility and a salt waste processing plant to treat radioactive waste.

“In a worst case scenario, undetected, nonconforming components could fail and injure workers or the public,” the inspector general’s report says.

The inspector general noted problems with $11 million in weakened rebar procured for the $4.8 billion MOX facility, one of the Department of Energy’s most expensive projects. The company building the MOX plant said earlier this year that the problems had been corrected.

But the correction of such errors is costly, the inspector general says, adding that quality assurance and communication between contractors involved in the three projects should be improved.

“Although these are positive steps, weaknesses in oversight and communication remain; therefore, additional action is necessary.”

The audit also noted that none of the six safety issues reviewed by the inspector general at the tritium extraction facility adequately met quality assurance standards. The facility would replenish the nation’s tritium supply. The Savannah River Site conducts nearly all of the Department of Energy’s tritium activities.

In addition, any potential failure of a component procured for the salt waste project could have caused a radioactive spill of up to 15,000 gallons of high-level radioactive waste.

The National Nuclear Security Administration, meanwhile, disagrees with the inspector general’s safety concerns and related cost impacts, noting instead that the problems were of low significance, the report says.

The inspector general’s investigation spans from September 2008 until April 2009.

To see the report, click here.

U.S. Energy Secretary Confirms $1.6 Billion Coming to Savannah River Site

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu says the $1.6 billion will help speed up the de-commissioning of nuclear reactors and contaminated areas at the Savannah River Site near Augusta.

The money could provide up to 3000 new jobs in the area, although it's unclear how many of those jobs would be permanent. The funding is part of the new economic stimulus package that targets the environmental clean-up of nuclear sites in the U.S.

The Savannah River Site for years refined nuclear materials for weapons. But employment numbers there dropped by thousands after the Cold War ended.

Federal officials say the funding will pay for the clean-up of about 40 percent of the site's massive industrial area, and ship out about 4500 cubic meters of waste.

About $6 billion is going out to nuclear sites in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Savannah River Site is getting the second-highest funding. The Hanford Site, in Washington state, is getting most at about $2 billion.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy

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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Power Company Out of Fuel Deal with Plant Near Augusta

Photo of MOX plant under construction. (Courtesy Shaw Areva Mox Services)

A power company in North Carolina says its contract to buy fuel made from weapons-grade plutonium at a plant near Augusta has expired.

A spokeswoman for Duke Energy, based in Charlotte, says the company did not renew the contract after re-negotiations broke down with Shaw Areva Mox Services, a private company building the plant that will process the fuel. That comes after apparent delays in production of the fuel, she says. Duke had planned to use the fuel in some of its nuclear reactors.

The U.S. Department of Energy is funding the plant's construction. At $4.8 billion, it's one of DOE's most expensive endeavors.

Critics have long argued the plant is a waste of government money and say the contract's expiration is a major blow to the mixed oxide fuel (MOX) plant at the Savannah River Site near Augusta. They say Duke was the plant's only customer so far. The plant, which is under construction, is expected to go online by 2016.

But Duke Energy says it still supports the plant's construction, and may later renew efforts to get the fuel.

Duke says it successfully used similar fuel from France in one of its reactors for nearly three years.

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U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Wants More Information About Radioactive Waste Disposal

A panel of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it wants further study of how a nuclear power plant will dispose of low-level radioactive waste if it builds two new proposed nuclear reactors.

The NRC panel says Southern Nuclear Operating Company, which manages Plant Vogtle in Burke County near Augusta, has not given enough information on its plans to dispose of low-level radioactive waste for the proposed reactors. The panel says that warrants additional review and debate.

The issue has come up in the NRC's licensing process for the reactors.

Opponents of the reactors call it a setback for Vogtle.

But Southern Nuclear officials say the company has full confidence that the NRC will grant the license.

The company plans to dispose about 95 percent of its low-level radioactive waste from the reactors at a site in Utah, according to Beth Thomas, a spokeswoman for Southern Nuclear. The plant already sends 95 percent of its low-level waste to the site.

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Savannah River Site Could Get Up to 3000 New Jobs

The economic stimulus could bring employment to the nuclear industry.

The stimulus would provide nearly $2 billion and up to 3000 jobs to the Savannah River Site, which is near Augusta.

"These are shovel ready jobs that have been identified and hopefully will make a big difference not only for environmental management in the area, but also create new jobs for the area," says Seth Kirshenberg, director of the Energy Communities Alliance, a national organization of counties and cities where sites operated by the U.S. Department of Energy are located.

However, there's been no official announcement yet.

The DOE will get about $6 billion in federal funds for environmental clean up at its sites.

The Savannah River Site refined nuclear materials for weapons during the Cold War. But employment numbers there dropped afterward, ever since the site's mission changed to cleanup efforts.

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Electricity Rates Under Review

Backers of a bill that would boost electric bills for Georgia Power customers say it will actually save consumers money over the long haul. The legislation would allow Georgia Power to begin collecting interest early for the construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta years before the construction is completed. It would add an average of $1.30 a month onto customer's bills beginning in 2011. Consumer groups are expected to speak up against the bill.

(Associated Press)

Savannah River Site Near Augusta May Take in Additional Nuclear Fuels

The Savannah River Site near Augusta could take in additional nuclear fuel used by other countries for research.

The U.S. Department of Energy has been taking back the research fuels since the mid-1990s, much of it at the Savannah River Site.

It's part of a nonproliferation program to help reduce security threats.

"Some of it is U.S. origin fuel...the other is highly enriched uranium that does not have proper security measures to protect from use by terrorists and groups who pose a threat to the U.S. or its allies," says Jim Giusti, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Energy who is based at the Savannah River Site.

The DOE is currently authorized to take back 19 metric tons, although officials say they've taken in far less. It is now seeking to take an additional metric ton, which would otherwise be especially vulnerable to security risks in its current locations. Giusti says officials have not determined which country or countries the extra fuel would come from.

The extra fuel, some of which was provided by the U.S. decades ago, would be stored and eventually reprocessed for use in research in the U.S. or for commercial nuclear reactors.

Environmental groups, meanwhile, say they support nonproliferation, but worry about environmental impacts of storage at the site, and reprocessing of the fuels. They also worry about cost factors.

The Savannah River Site is a massive federal entity along the South Carolina-Georgia border that processes nuclear materials.

Federal Officials Question Financial Discrepancies at Savannah River Site Near Augusta

Federal officials are questioning serious accounting discrepancies at a massive federal site that processes nuclear materials near Augusta.

The U.S. Department of Energy's inspector general says the Washington Savannah River Company can't properly account for $1.4 billion spent at the Savannah River Site in 2007.

It says auditors at the company failed to properly approve procurements and omitted information, and inappropriately changed information in its internal audits to hide discrepancies. The report says the company's actions violated procedures designed to detect costs that the federal government might not otherwise pay for, over the protests from the auditors themselves. It also blasts the DOE for inadequate oversight of the process.

"I have a feeling that over the years that a lackadaisical attitude has developed in managing all this money, and the company essentially thought that they could do as they pleased," says Tom Clements, a spokesman for Friends of the Earth, an environmental group.

The Washington Savannah River Company lost its contract to manage the site last year, after about 18 years there. It's unclear if the issues brought up in the audit were the reason for that.

A spokesman at the company declined to comment on the report.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Energy were not available for comment.

The Washington Savannah River Company still manages the removal and disposal of liquid waste there, employing about 2000 people. It managed about 6500 other employees under the management contract it lost a year ago.

Federal officials in December awarded the liquid waste contract to Savannah River Remediation, whose parent company is the same as the Washington Savannah River Company, but a losing bidder has challenged the award.

Salt Waste Plant Gets Okay Near Augusta

The U.S. Department of Energy says construction can begin on a new plant near Augusta that will process radioactive materials for disposal.

The plant will process about 33 million gallons of the waste at the Savannah River Site. The waste has resulted from plutonium production by the federal government since the 1950s. Much of the waste is stored in tanks in the form of salt cakes. After the cakes are liquefied, the plant will separate highly radioactive isotopes from lesser radioactive materials.

The highly radioactive materials will be turned into glass and stored at the Savannah River Site until a permanent disposal site is opened, presumably at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

The low level waste will be converted into a concrete grout mixture, which will be placed in vaults and also stored at the Savannah River Site.

Officials at the Savannah River Site expect the $1.34 billion plant to be online by 2013.

Preliminary site preparation has already begun. The DOE's decision is the final stage of the construction approval process.

The Savannah River Site is a massive federal entity that processes nuclear materials.

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.

Georgia Public Service Commission considers rate increase for Georgia Power

The Georgia Public Service Commission began another round of hearings this week focusing on how to finance the construction of two new nuclear reactors at the Plant Vogtle power plant in eastern Georgia.

At issue...whether to let Georgia Power raise utility rates sooner, rather than later, to pay for two new nuclear reactors in Burke County, near Waynesboro.

Georgia Power says a rate increase beginning in 2011, while construction of the reactors is in progress, would cut billions of dollars in interest from construction costs.

The average residential utility customer, one whose power bill averages about $100 per month, would start off with an increase of $1.30 a month. The rates would increase each year, with those consumers paying at least $109 more a year by 2018.

"If you don't make any payments on the facility until it goes into service, then a large percentage of what our customers are going to be paying for is the accrual of interest," says Oscar Harper, a vice president at Georgia Power.

Harper estimates that increasing rates on the front end will save ratepayers money after the construction is completed.

But opponents of the reactors say that's risky, and unfair.

They held a press conference outside the PSC headquarters in Atlanta today.

"If you tried this is the competitive market, you'd be out of business instantly," says Neill Herring, a lobbyist and spokesman for the Georgia Sierra Club. "What if Kroger decided they wanted to charge more for groceries if they maybe wanted to build another store? You'd go to Publix. "Who do you go to if the power company does that?"

Construction on the proposed reactors would likely not begin before 2011, and that's only if federal officials approve it.

The hearings continue throughout most of the week.

The PSC will likely make its decision by March, although the state legislature can also vote on a rate increase.

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

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.

NRC approves construction procedures at nuclear fuel plant near Augusta

Construction is underway on a plant at the Savannah River Site near Augusta that will convert dangerous weapons-grade plutonium into fuel for commercial nuclear reactors.

The mixed oxide fuel fabrication facility, known as MOX, will turn 34 metric tons of plutonium from the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile into fuel for power plants.

Officials say the plant will reduce dangerous nuclear proliferation while providing much needed power.

"They have found nothing that we need to change in terms of management action, construction support, or facilities support," says David Stinson, president of Shaw Areva MOX Services, the contractor over seeing the plant's construction.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday said it has found no major performance issues with the construction. That follows two years of pre-construction and construction site inspections.

Yet, an earlier report from the NRC had criticized what it called poor quality control and a lack of oversight by the construction contractor. The agency had found concrete destined for the plant had been improperly manufactured. It also found problems with weakened concrete reinforcement bars, also known as rebar.

Construction at the $4.8 billion plant, one of the most expensive and significant projects by the U.S. Department of Energy, began last year. The plant is supposed to be built strong enough to withstand earthquakes or terrorist attacks.

Stinson says the amount of rebar in question was relatively small, and that MOX now gets the steel bars from another manufacturer.

"All the remaining rebar was removed from the site, and only new supplies that are fully compliant are there, so we feel very good about the work and that it's safe," says Stinson.

The NRC acknowledged the problems at a meeting this week to discuss its review of the MOX plant, but called them minor and, therefore, not warranting further action.

That angers environmental groups that are protesting MOX. They say the NRC is not doing enough to ensure that the building is safe.

"If you make mistakes building the plant, you are essentially building a potential time bomb," says Dr. Edwin Lyman, an analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists. "I think they're just trying to put the best possible face on a disturbing situation, and that situation is that there is a significant issue in the U.S. and abroad for having the correct procedures for making sure dangerous nuclear facilities are built to the highest standards."

With the NRC's inspection report this week, construction continues on schedule at the plant.

Officials expect operations to begin in 2016.

Congressional subcommittee issues report on nuclear funding

The federal government's efforts to re-process spent nuclear fuel from the nation's commercial nuclear reactors appears to be in jeopardy.

The U.S. House of Representatives energy and water development appropriations subcommittee says it's recommending against funding the Bush administration's Global Nuclear Partnership (GNEP). The Savannah River Site, near Augusta, is one of ten entities studying how to implement such a project, and therefore is in the running for the project.

In a strongly worded report, the subcommittee says that GNEP is rushed, poorly defined and expensive.

GNEP has requested about $300 million for fiscal year 2009.

The subcommittee says it still supports research on methods to re-process the fuel, though, and is recommending that about $90 million go to that.

The subcommittee also recommends about $487 million funding for a mixed oxide fuel plant, another major project currently under construction at the Savannah River Site. The plant would convert weapons-grade plutonium into fuel for nuclear reactors.

But the report questions the management of the construction.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently found problems with concrete and reinforcement bars.

The NRC will hold a meeting at 7 p.m. today at the Aiken Municipal Center in Aiken, South Carolina to discuss a recent review of the project.

As for congressional funding, the subcommittee's report is not a done deal. It still must pass muster from Congress.

Savannah River Site near Augusta to offer voluntary severance for employees

The Savannah River Site, a federal entity which processes nuclear materials near Augusta, is offering severance packages to employees who choose to leave their jobs voluntarily. Officials there say they're looking at likely freeing up dollars from those salaries for what they term higher priorities at the site, although they did not give specifics about what those priorities might be. They also did not connect the voluntary severance offer to tough economic times. A spokesman for the site was unsure if mandatory layoffs would follow, saying that depends on the status of federal funding under review by Congress. The employees will get a week's pay of severance for each year they've worked the site, for up up to 26 weeks. They can also take retirement if they qualify. SRS officials say they've offered the program for the past four years.