Vogtle 3 Gets NRC’s Approval to Begin Operation in Significant Regulatory Milestone for U.S. Nuclear Industry
Credit to Author: Sonal Patel| Date: Wed, 03 Aug 2022 16:38:15 +0000
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has given Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC) the green light to load fuel and begin the operation of an AP1000 nuclear reactor at Vogtle 3. The authorization makes Vogtle 3 the first reactor in the nation to reach the milestone as part of the regulator’s Part 52 combined license process.
Vogtle 3 is one of two 1,117-MW Westinghouse AP1000 reactors SNC is building for owners Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power Corp., Dalton Utilities, and Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia as part of the much-watched expansion of the 1989-completed 2.4-GW Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Burke County, Georgia. While years behind schedule, SNC’s parent company Southern Co. last week indicated it expects Unit 3 to enter service in the first quarter of next year, with Unit 4 following in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The AP1000 reactors are the nation’s only new reactors under construction and the first to have successfully neared completion after a construction start since 1978. (Over the short course of nuclear power’s history in the U.S., more than 100 reactors scrutinized by the NRC and its predecessor have been canceled, nearly half of which had already begun construction.) The only new nuclear plant to come online in the U.S. in the past two decades is the Tennessee Valley Authority’s 1.2-GW Watts Bar Unit 2, POWER’s Top Plant in 2018.
However, Watts Bar 2 was built under the NRC’s conventional two-part licensing process (as described in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations [10 CFR] under Part 50), which requires separate regulatory approval for a construction permit and an operating license. All currently operating nuclear power plants in the U.S. were licensed under the NRC’s historical two-step process.
In 1989, the NRC unveiled an alternative licensing process, 10 CFR Part 52, which allowed a license applicant to receive a combined license (COL) for construction and operation. The process includes optional steps, which allow reactor vendors to apply for approval of a reactor design or builders to apply for an early site permit. Several nuclear project developers have sought NRC COLs, which are valid for 40 years, and may be extended for another 20 years, and the NRC has issued COLs at least eight times.
The Vogtle expansion, notably, marked history in 2012, when the NRC ultimately approved two COLs for Southern Nuclear, marking the first licenses ever approved for a nuclear plant using the one-step licensing process. Southern Nuclear’s original application was submitted in March 2008, followed by a supplemental document submitted in October 2009. Industry then lauded the NRC for reaching a decision in just under 48 months.
After issuing a COL, the NRC must authorize the operation of the facility by verifying that the licensee completed required inspections, tests, and analyses and that acceptance criteria were met. SNC on July 29 notified the NRC that all inspections, tests, analyses, and acceptance criteria had been met. The basis (under 10 CFR 52.103[g]) showed Vogtle 3 “can begin safe operations,” the NRC said on Aug. 3.
The NRC’s authorization effectively moves Vogtle Unit 3 out of the construction reactor oversight program and into the operating reactor oversight process. For now, however, Vogtle Unit 4 remains under construction, the NRC said.
“This is the first time we’ve authorized a reactor’s initial startup through our Part 52 licensing process,” noted Andrea Veil, director of the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation on Wednesday.“Before authorization, we independently verified that Vogtle Unit 3 has been properly built and will protect public health and safety when it transitions to operation. Our resident inspectors at Vogtle will keep a close eye on Unit 3 as the fuel load and startup testing move forward. We’re focused on safety so the country can use Vogtle’s additional carbon-free electricity. We will maintain this focus as we license the next generation of new reactors.”
This story is being updated. Please check back later for updates.
—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior associate editor (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).
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