Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle: new Westinghouse AP1000 reactors – unit 4 on left (under criticality testing) and unit 3 on right (operating), reactor buildings are white, at the base of the cooling towers – photo ©SRS Watch
On February 18, 2024, SRS Watch accompanied two journalists to the sites of the new nuclear reactor construction debacle in South Carolina and Georgia: VC Summer and Vogtle. The focus of the trip was to view the reactor sites and review what might be learned from the failed projects.
At VC Summer, north of Columbia, SC, the single operating unit (started operation in 1984) is visible but the abandoned units 2 & 3 are not visible. Construction of two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors was was halted in 2017 after massive cost overruns and endless schedule delays. Electric customers are left holding the bag for billions of dollars in costs (a charge hidden from customers and not shown on the monthly electric bill). The project drove both Westinghouse and South Carolina Electric & Gas into bankruptcy, resulting in a takeover of SCE&G by Dominion Energy. Two SEC&G officials and two Westinghouse officials pleaded guilty to felonies in their roles in the boondoggle, for lying to regulators about the cost and schedule of the project.
At Georgia Power’s Vogtle site, on the Savannah River east of Waynesboro, Georgia, the new AP1000 reactors are visible from the public roadway. The two existing units and their twin cooling towers are also visible. The white buildings at the base of the new cooling towers are the reactor buildings. The new-reactor project has resulted in one reactor (unit 3) starting in July 2023 and the second new unit (unit 4) undergoing criticality testing as of February 20, 2024. At a price tag of $35 billion and also with gigantic cost overruns and significant schedule delays, the project must be judged to be a MASSIVE FAILURE.
Both reactor sites are located in rural areas with a predominantly African-American population. It’s clear to see that both the new and old reactor projects have brought almost no economic development or supportive infrastructure to those areas. This aspect is an example of a lack of environmental justice that must be addressed locally and reviewed at other sites where nuclear projects that bring health and safety risks are and where nuclear waste is generated.
At both VC Summer and Vogtle, the high-level nuclear waste (spent fuel) that has been generated in the reactors since they started operation in the 1980s still remains at the sites. The cooling pools are full and spent fuel is now being stored on the surface in large “dry casks.” There is no geologic disposal site in the US to which to take this deadly material.
The two projects has essentially killed any further consideration of large new nuclear power reactors in the US. Lesson to other countries pursuing this reactor design or other new nuclear reactors: EXTREME CAUTION is ADVISED!
Vogtle is located across the Savannah River from US Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (in South Carolina). At SRS, the third big nuclear construction project in the US, for the mixed oxide fuel facility – to make nuclear fuel from surplus weapons plutonium – was another huge failure by DOE and the nuclear industry as construction of it was stopped in 2018, after a waste of $5 billion on construction alone. DOE has proposed to covert the MOX plant into the SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant, to make plutonium cores for new nuclear weapons. The cost of the pit plant could reach $20 billion, making it the most expensive building in US history. The Plutonium Bomb Plant is part of the US Government’s policy to engage in a new nuclear arms race and keep the US on a footing to “fight”(*) World War III. (*mindlessly blow ourselves into oblivion; see US Department of Defense “Nuclear Posture Review” for US nuclear weapons policies that go far beyond “deterrence”)
There was a fun moment to the day – when we stopped in downtown Augusta, Georgia so say hello to a native son – singer James Brown. Do you feel good, y’all?! (Ignore the reactor debacles…)
Unit 3 at Vogtle, in the state of Georgia, with white reactor building to the left. Feb. 18, 2024, ©SRS Watch
Unit 4 at Vogtle, not yet commercially operating (thus no vapor from the cooling tower), Feb. 18, 2024. ©SRS Watch
SRS Watch director Tom Clements in front of new Vogtle reactors, Feb. 18, 2024. Clements first visited the Vogtle site when units 1 & 2 were under construction in the early 1980s. ©SRS Watch
Vogtle site with two older reactors and two new units under construction. Forested area in the background, on the eastern side of the Savannah River in South Carolina is DOE’s Savannah River Site. ©High Flyer
Abandoned AP1000 reactors and mechanical cooling towers at VC Summer, with operating unit by Lake Monticello. ©High Flyer
VC Summer unit 1, began operation in 1984; new, abandoned reactors are behind this reactor and out of sight, Feb. 18, 2024, ©SRS Watch
With James Brown – He’s the king of them all, ya’ll! – in downtown Augusta, Georgia, Feb. 18, 2024. ©SRS Watch
Abandoned MOX building at SRS – about 5 miles east of Plant Vogtle – proposed to be converted to the SRS Plutonium Bomb Plant. ©High Flyer