Pretty big milestone. Visited the construction site in 2019, and it was pretty neat. Got to see a mock-up of the control room, all screens, unlike the analog gauges and dials of older reactors....
Georgia Power has announced that the AP1000 - the first new nuclear unit to be built in the USA in more than three decades - has safely reached initial criticality.
The reactor's power output will now be raised to prepare it for synchronization to the electric grid, and the start of electricity generation. Operators will then take the unit through a gradual power increase until it reaches its full power output. Tests to ensure all systems are operating together and to validate operating procedures will be carried out throughout the start-up process before the unit is declared to be in commercial operation. Georgia Power currently projects an in-service date for Vogtle 3 in May or June.
Pretty big milestone. Visited the construction site in 2019, and it was pretty neat. Got to see a mock-up of the control room, all screens, unlike the analog gauges and dials of older reactors. I’m somewhat optimistic of the future of American nuclear (even if it has been a very bumpy ride).
Both Westinghouse's AP1000 design and France's EPR design resulted in severe financial difficulties, though they eventually ended up with working power plants that are presumably much safer than...
Both Westinghouse's AP1000 design and France's EPR design resulted in severe financial difficulties, though they eventually ended up with working power plants that are presumably much safer than older designs. I wonder which has a better future?
On big (>750 MW) light water reactors, I fully expect the Russians (pre-2022) and/or the Chinese (post-2022) to do better than Western designs overall. They seem to me to have done a good job of...
On big (>750 MW) light water reactors, I fully expect the Russians (pre-2022) and/or the Chinese (post-2022) to do better than Western designs overall. They seem to me to have done a good job of offering a “whole package” on construction and financing.
Limiting things strictly to AP1000 versus EPR:
The French seem to have a better pipeline for new builds (Sizewell, six new plants in France), and EDF being nationalized will help. However, they are moving to optimize on a new variant (EPR2) to hopefully simplify construction. In practice, this means a whole new reactor design and abandoning the NOAK cost/experience curve.
The AP1000 has a bit less firm of a pipeline (Poland, Ukraine), but it has more operating reactors compared to EPR (five versus three), and there don’t seem to have been major design changes for upcoming versions.
On the balance, I would tilt slightly in favor of the AP1000.
As for small/micro-reactors: it’s a three-way race between the U.S., Russia, and China. China has the lead, but I think the U.S. can catch up, especially on the micro (<50 MW) designs.
Pretty big milestone. Visited the construction site in 2019, and it was pretty neat. Got to see a mock-up of the control room, all screens, unlike the analog gauges and dials of older reactors. I’m somewhat optimistic of the future of American nuclear (even if it has been a very bumpy ride).
Both Westinghouse's AP1000 design and France's EPR design resulted in severe financial difficulties, though they eventually ended up with working power plants that are presumably much safer than older designs. I wonder which has a better future?