Talk about being a day late and a dollar short..The good news for clean energy activists is the first greenfield nuclear power plant to be built in the US in more than 30 years came on stream this month..The bad news is that the final price tag for the Vogtle plant near Augusta, GA, was so high that it could discourage the future use of nuclear power as a viable way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions..Georgia Power Co. announced last week the facility is now in commercial operation, seven years late and US$17 billion over budget. At its peak capacity of 1,100 megawatts, Unit 3 produces enough zero-emission electricity to power half a million homes and businesses in Georgia, Florida and Alabama..A fourth reactor at the site is nearing completion and began loading radioactive fuel in late July for start-up in March of 2024..“The commercial operation of Vogtle Unit 3 marks a significant achievement for the US nuclear energy industry and a milestone in advancing global clean and reliable energy solutions,” said Maria Korsnick, president and chief executive officer of the Nuclear Energy Institute. .“We are thrilled to witness the successful deployment of this Westinghouse AP1000 advanced reactor, which is helping to shape the energy landscape of the future.”.That assumes anyone will want to build one in the future..The twin reactors were originally expected to cost $14 billion, but are now on track to be $31 billion, not including $3.7 billion that Westinghouse — which designed the reactor — paid to break the original contract to build it when construction started in 2009..Now ratepayers are on the hook for the overruns in the form of ongoing finance charges and rate increases..“The cost increases and schedule delays have completely eliminated any benefit on a life-cycle cost basis,” Tom Newsome, director of utility finance for the commission, testified at a Georgia Public Service Commission hearing earlier this month..The commission will be forced to determine how much — if any - of the cost increases ought to be passed onto consumers. what it deems to be 'prudent' will be passed onto customers; anything determined to be 'wasteful' will be borne by shareholders..The ordeal is providing ammunition for opponents of the plant who argue wind and solar power would have been cheaper and ultimately more reliable..With 95,881 megawatts of nuclear power capacity at 93 operating reactors, the US has more nuclear capacity than any other country, producing nearly 20% of the country’s electricity, according to the Energy Information Agency (EIA)..Recent legislation, such as the Biden Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, supports US nuclear energy as part of a clean energy, zero-carbon generating portfolio, EIA said..Ontario began refurbishing 10 of its 18 existing CANDU reactors in 2016 at a projected cost of $25 billion. The refurbishments will take place at the Darlington and Bruce Nuclear Generating Stations over the next 15 years.
