Georgia Power recently announced that Plant Vogtle unit 4 has generated electricity and is connected to the power grid, providing nuclear heat to produce steam. The plant has yet to reach full capacity.
Operators continue to raise reactor power for generation of electricity while performing tests at various power levels. The goal is to soon arrive at 100% capacity and enter full commercial operation supplying power to Jacksonville, FL-based utility JEA.
Does Plant Vogtle signal a revival of the fortunes of nuclear in the U.S? Not according to recent activity, with only 2 GW of new nuclear is scheduled to begin construction over the next five years in the U.S.
Projects on the table include an 809 MW project split across two sites in the Rocky Mountains; a 798 MW Oak Ridge project in the Southeast and 320 MW Seadrift project for Dow Chemical in Texas.
Agreed, that is a lot better than nothing — but a long way to go before we can talk about a nuclear renaissance. “Overall, new-build nuclear is expected to account for less than 1% of all new generation over the next five years,” says Britt Burt, an analyst at Industrial Info Resources.
How about small modular reactors? SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors with a capacity of up to 300 MW, much smaller than traditional nuclear facilities. Also, prefabricated SMRs can be shipped and installed on site, so they are a lot more affordable than large reactors.
Rocketing cost is a huge roadblock for US nuclear power. IIR says the third and fourth reactors at Plant Vogtle were originally priced at $14 billion but since ballooned to $31 billion. The hype around SMRs is unlikely to bear fruit until the end of the decade.
DOE did award Utah Associated Municipal Power (UAMP) a $1.35 billion grant in 2020 to build 12 x 60MW small reactors for a 720MW station, then scaled back to 462 MW.
Construction was supposed to start in 2025, with commercial operation to begin by 2030 at the earliest. Recently however, UAMPS cancelled its participation in the project and backed out of the deal altogether.
