uranium shortage by 2014, page-3

US approves first nuclear plant in decades
Posted February 10, 2012 15:42:33

Photo: Work has started on a containment vessel at the facility in Vogtle, Georgia. (Supplied: Southern Company Inc.)

The United States has approved its first new nuclear power reactors in decades, despite objections from the country's top regulator that safety issues raised by last year's Fukushima meltdown were not fully addressed.

Commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) voted 4-1 to approve the construction of two 1,100-megawatt Westinghouse-Toshiba AP1000s at power generator Southern Company's existing nuclear facility in Vogtle, Georgia.

The dissenter was NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko, who argued for the need for "binding commitments" that the builders would implement design fixes to fully address risks exposed by the crisis at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant after last year's earthquake-tsunami disaster.

"I cannot support issuing this licence as if Fukushima has never happened... in my view that is what we are doing," he said.

In his written dissent he suggested that both the power plant builders and the NRC itself would be prone to slipping on promises and expectations to raise safety standards.

"On the day before the Fukushima accident, any nuclear professional or regulator would likely have told you that a natural disaster causing a loss of containment at three reactors simultaneously anywhere in the world was not a credible event we need be concerned about," he said.

"If nothing else, the Fukushima accident has demonstrated the potential consequences of that type of complacency."

Construction underway
But the other commissioners said such a commitment was not necessary and that Mr Jaczko's concerns would be addressed.

"Imposing the licence condition suggested by chairman Jaczko would neither improve this effort nor make a difference in the operational safety of new reactors," they said in their decision.

The approval gave the go-ahead for the $US14 billion project near Waynesboro, Georgia, seven years after Southern Company first applied for permission.

Construction at the site is well underway and Southern said the first reactor could be running by 2016 and the second a year later.

The design of the Westinghouse reactor was approved in December after lengthy delays to address risks of terror attacks post September 11, 2001 and to address some concerns about meltdowns like those at Fukushima.

The design is supposed to be able to withstand the impact of a large aircraft being crashed into it.

AFP


Link Provided: www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-10/us-nuclear-reactors..

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