• US approves of new nuclear reactors in the state of Georgia
    45 replies, posted
[QUOTE]NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to approve licenses to build two new nuclear reactors Thursday, the first approvals in over 30 years. The reactors are being built in Georgia by a consortium of utilities led by Southern Co. (SO, Fortune 500) They will be sited at the Vogtle nuclear power plant complex, about 170 miles east of Atlanta. The plant already houses two older reactors. Spokespeople for Southern Co. and the NRC were quiet on the matter Wednesday ahead of the vote set for Thursday at 12 PM ET. If approved, NRC staff would likely issue a construction and operating license within the next few days. Although new nuclear reactors have been built in this country within the last couple of decades -- the last one started operation in 1996 -- the NRC hasn't issued a license to build a new reactor since 1978, a year before the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania. The reactors that have opened in the last decades were approved before 1978. The combination of the Three Mile Island incident and the high costs of nuclear power turned many utilities away from the technology. There are currently 104 operating nuclear reactors at 64 plants across the country that provide the nation with roughly 20% of its power. Half are over 30 years old. The utilities building the new Vogtle reactors submitted their application seven years ago. Prep-work at the site has been under way for some time, but the actual reactors can't be built until NRC issues the final license. How close is your home to a nuclear plant? The new reactors are a Westinghouse design called the AP 1000. Together they are expected to cost $14 billion and provide 2200 megawatts of power, according to a spokesman for Southern Co. That's enough to power 1 million homes. The plants are being built with the help of a conditional $8.3 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy. The loan guarantee is part of DOE's broader loan program that has been criticized for backing companies like Solyndra, the bankrupt maker of solar panels. The Southern spokesman said the loan guarantee, combined with other regulatory measures, enable the project to receive cheaper financing that will ultimately save ratepayers $1 billion. The first reactor is expected to come online in 2016 and the second one in 2017, according to Southern Co. The AP 1000 is the newest NRC-approved nuclear reactor. This would be the first one built in the United States, although four are already under construction in China, said Scott Shaw, a Westinghouse spokesman. Critics have said the containment walls of the AP 1000 aren't strong enough to withstand a terrorist attack, but Shaw says they were redesigned after September 11, 2001 and have held up during simulations. He also said the design's passive cooling system makes it much safer than older designs. The AP 1000 uses gravity and condensation -- not electricity -- to cool the fuel rods. It was the loss of electric power that led to the meltdown of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi reactors following the tsunami in 2011. Still, a coalition of nine mostly regional environmental groups say the current design is not safe. They are asking the NRC to delay its decision Thursday until they can file a challenge in federal court. [/QUOTE] Source: [url]http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/08/news/economy/nuclear_reactors/index.htm?hpt=hp_t3[/url]
It's great to see that new reactors are finally getting approved. People were, and still are, too worried about the unlikely consequences of having reactors. Those worries are a bit over the top when you realize that all of the reactors we have now are decades old and the technology behind them, especially the parts that keep it from leaking radioactive sadness all over the populace, has improved greatly. The reactors we build now will be much safer than the reactors we built 30+ years ago. Nuclear power is great. I really hope that more reactors start getting approved.
Hey I live in Georgia :dance: Not relevant at all of course. I'm happy to see nuclear power coming back into the fold after the Fukushima meltdown.
Here's hoping people don't protest it out of blind fear.
I live in georgia and I'm cool with this
Nuclear power best power* *[I]that anyone's ever going to allow[/I]
[QUOTE=Hidole555;34618775]Here's hoping people don't protest it out of blind fear.[/QUOTE] Sadly, I can guarantee you that they will. People are very misinformed regarding the subject, with some people thinking every reactor will be the next Chernobyl.
[QUOTE=Raidyr;34618766]Hey I live in Georgia :dance: Not relevant at all of course. I'm happy to see nuclear power coming back into the fold after the Fukushima meltdown.[/QUOTE] What county? I live there too. Looks like we're the first ones to go when something goes wrong. I'm close to Atlanta.
[QUOTE=Cone;34618861]Nuclear power best power* *[I]that anyone's ever going to allow[/I][/QUOTE] Fuck your nuclear shit! I run on TODDLER POWER!
Woodstock represet. Im happy that they are adding them.
[QUOTE=codemaster85;34618995]Woodstock represet. Im happy that they are adding them.[/QUOTE] Nuh uh. Marietta mofo.
We have a nuclear power plant on the California coast that looks like a giant pair of tits. Beat that, Georgia.
[QUOTE=gamefreek76;34619027]We have a nuclear power plant on the California coast that looks like a giant pair of tits. Beat that, Georgia.[/QUOTE] Then Georgia builds a giant dick
There is a nuke power plant on the other side of my town. It supplies my whole county and even sends some power to the city of Boston. It's been there for years and nothing bad has happened, at all. They do test the meltdown sirens occasionally, you can hear them for miles and it sounds like an air-raid siren. Scary shit.
BOOOOOM.
Good to see america is making more and more states / Things nuclear powered. [IMG]http://imgc.classistatic.com/cps/kjc/111212/150r1/3001e55_14.jpeg[/IMG]
why do people build nuclear reactors on the borders of everything [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/5tFJz.jpg[/IMG] [editline]9th February 2012[/editline] id say its a stones throw but the savannahs a big river
[QUOTE=xpod1;34619363]why do people build nuclear reactors on the borders of everything [/QUOTE] Would you rather a nuclear plant be in the middle of town?
Good, now replace all old reactors with new ones, if we went this route decades ago everything would be powered by clean energy, and be much more efficient.
[QUOTE=Itachi_Crow;34618784]I live in georgia and I'm cool with this[/QUOTE] It's incredibly unsafe though what if a giant tsunami and earthquake happens at the same time and knocks it out?
[QUOTE=xpod1;34619363]why do people build nuclear reactors on the borders of everything [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/5tFJz.jpg[/IMG] [editline]9th February 2012[/editline] id say its a stones throw but the savannahs a big river[/QUOTE] They built it there because they need a big reliable water supply.
[QUOTE=Hidole555;34618775]Here's hoping people don't protest it out of blind fear.[/QUOTE] Oh there will be, too bad you can't pass a law so that people who can't explain how nuclear decay or fission works have to shut up about it.
[QUOTE=xpod1;34619363]why do people build nuclear reactors on the borders of everything [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/5tFJz.jpg[/IMG] [editline]9th February 2012[/editline] id say its a stones throw but the savannahs a big river[/QUOTE] So if it blows up you have more of a chance of hitting Texas than you would by putting it in the middle of town.
I'm glad they built it East of Atlanta... I live in Marietta; West of Atlanta... I don't mind it at all, but I'd still rather be as far away from it as possible.
I love these environmental types.
If its lessens our dependance on gas, I'm with it all the way.
[img]http://www.availableimages.com/television/d/6207-1/squidbillies+9.jpg[/img] and so it begins, georgia's slow descent into irradiated madness
[QUOTE=Hidole555;34619380]Would you rather a nuclear plant be in the middle of town?[/QUOTE] Avatar fits.
A modern nuclear reactor is nice to see. But why take advantage of the situation and make a thorium reactor?
Oh god, IT IS GOING TO BE JUST LIKE CHERNOBYL *Irrationalpanic* [editline]9th February 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=xpod1;34619363]why do people build nuclear reactors on the borders of everything [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/5tFJz.jpg[/IMG] [editline]9th February 2012[/editline] id say its a stones throw but the savannahs a big river[/QUOTE] You are right, it makes no sense since all they do is lock the workers inside the plant at night, who cares where they live.
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