On Tuesday the Nuclear Regulatory Commission began the first mandatory hearing for a new nuclear power reactor since the 1970s.
Southern Nuclear Operating Co. submitted its application to build two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at its Vogtle site near Augusta, Ga., in 2008. Following years of studies on the project, the NRC commissioners will soon make a decision on the reactors’ combined licenses, the agency said in a release. The hearing is also the first to be conducted by NRC commissioners under streamlined licensing procedures. It is intended to ensure the agency has addressed all safety, environmental and financing concerns in its findings.
Testimony on the licenses for units 3 and 4 will continue through today, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a final decision is expected early next year. If the units’ COLs and work authorizations go through, the reactors are scheduled to be completed in 2016 and 2017. Southern has already conducted preliminary work at the site, and to date the Obama administration has offered loan guarantees of $8 billion. The reactors will be owned by Georgia Power (45.7 percent), Oglethorpe Power (30 percent),
Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (22.7 percent) and Dalton Utilities (1.6 percent).