new plants a shot in the arm
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

For ailing US nuclear industry

new plants a shot in the arm

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today new plants a shot in the arm

Florida; there are currently 99 reactors in the United States.
Washington - Arab Today

The US nuclear power industry got a boost this week when state authorities in Georgia gave the go-ahead to complete construction on two new reactors.

But this may not reverse the industry's recent decline.

The Georgia Public Service Commission on Thursday approved construction of Vogtle reactors three and four, the last planned reactors of this type in the United States. A project in South Carolina was halted in July.

The two new reactors at the Vogtle plant in Georgia are expected to enter service at the end of 2022.

"Demonstrating we can build and complete new nuclear plants here in America will help us regain our leadership in a technology we invented," Maria Korsnick, president of the Nuclear Energy Institute in Washington, said in a statement.

"America's pre-eminence in nuclear energy makes our country safer because it allows us to influence and control how this technology is used around the world."

Currently there are 99 reactors in the United States, accounting for about 20 percent of the country's electricity generation. But apart from the Vogtle project, no other reactor is under construction and none have come on line since last year.

President Donald Trump has shown much more interest in reviving coal power than nuclear, even though Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Twitter called the Vogtle decision "an important milestone for the future of clean, reliable, and American nuclear energy!"

Nuclear power often is considered clean energy because it does not contribute to climate change. But the industry's image took a beating after 1979's Three Mile Island accident, in Pennsylvania, which caused a radiation leak, followed by more serious accidents at Fukushima, Japan in 2011 and Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986

No new US reactors were brought on line between 1996 and 2016, with the bulk of construction dating to the 1970s and 1980s. But the United States is still the world's largest producer of nuclear energy.

- 'Last new plant standing' -

The bankruptcy earlier this year of one of the sector's main players, Westinghouse, which had been acquired by Japan's Toshiba, did not help matters.

Its AP1000 technology is being used in the construction of the two new reactors at the Vogtle plant.

Westinghouse collapsed under the weight on colossal debt, which Toshiba must now repay before it can sell off the assets of the subsidiary, which still has eight AP1000 reactors in construction in the United States, South Korea and China, as well as a dozen projects in the planning stages.

While it does not contribute to climate change, environmental activists oppose nuclear power because of the risks it poses and the need to handle and process the radioactive waste it generates.

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy condemned the Voglte plant approvals, calling the project mismanaged and five-years behind schedule, with costs having doubled to $27 billion.

"As the last new nuclear power plant standing this should be a lesson: these nuclear facilities cannot be built on time nor on budget," and are vulnerable to corruption and mismanagement, executive director Stephen Smith said in a statement.

The Sierra Club had a similar reaction.

"Georgia Power should scrap this disaster immediately and instead transition away from dangerous nuclear and fossil fuel-based electric generation and toward a 100 percent clean energy economy that creates good jobs, protects our environment and shields our communities from the gross financial risks associated with bad bets like Vogtle," the organization said in a statement.

Source: AFP

 

arabstoday
arabstoday

GMT 16:54 2018 Thursday ,13 September

Over 10 mln under watch, warnings from Hurricane Florence

GMT 06:13 2017 Sunday ,31 December

US moves to reverse regulations

GMT 10:21 2017 Thursday ,26 October

US Congress passes $36.5 bn

GMT 20:44 2017 Wednesday ,25 October

to record global tree cover loss

GMT 09:28 2017 Tuesday ,28 March

Trump poised to roll back climate protections
Arab Today, arab today

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

new plants a shot in the arm new plants a shot in the arm

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

new plants a shot in the arm new plants a shot in the arm

 



GMT 09:16 2017 Wednesday ,13 December

Cape wearing tips

GMT 20:49 2017 Monday ,21 August

South Asia floods claim more than 750 lives

GMT 19:06 2016 Saturday ,10 December

IOF Close Al-Nabi Saleh Village's Entrance

GMT 18:01 2017 Wednesday ,22 February

Abu Sayyaf ‘likely’ behind Vietnam freighter attack

GMT 06:41 2017 Sunday ,03 December

Hamas threatens 'intifada' over US moves on Jerusalem

GMT 16:17 2017 Saturday ,21 January

BMW 7 series crosses 5,000 unit mark in 2016

GMT 12:17 2016 Wednesday ,24 February

United Technologies nixes Honeywell merger

GMT 23:37 2017 Monday ,31 July

Saudi Arabia sanctions Hezbollah member

GMT 05:45 2018 Saturday ,29 September

Abdullah bin Zayed hosts official reception in New York

GMT 04:12 2018 Friday ,12 January

Saudi-led coalition says Yemen rebels threat

GMT 11:18 2014 Monday ,22 December

Richard Ward adds to The Chelsea Collection

GMT 21:20 2017 Monday ,06 February

UN resumes food air drops in Deir Ezzor

GMT 22:24 2017 Friday ,15 December

HRH Premier thanked by Cambodian counterpart

GMT 02:11 2017 Monday ,23 October

Oct24/Nov22

GMT 21:31 2017 Monday ,11 December

HM King congratulates Burkinabe President

GMT 20:22 2017 Monday ,23 October

EU deplores attack against police
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday