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| Fig. 1: Unit 1 of the Virgil C Summer Nuclear Generating Station (Source: "Wikimedia Commons) |
The Virgil C Summer Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power station located in Fairfield County, South Carolina. Unit 1, seen in Fig. 1, is a Westinghouse 3 loop pressurized water reactor that has been operating since 1984. [1] In 2008, South Carolina Electric & Gas announced plans to expand the station to include 2 more units, each with 1100 MW pressurized water reactors that would be built by Westinghouse Electric Company. [2] At the time, no nuclear reactors had been built in the United States in the 21st century. [2] After construction began in 2013, the project ran into several problems, including Westinghouse declaring bankruptcy, and it was finally abandoned in 2017.
On March 27, 2008, South Carolina Electric & Gas applied to the NRC for a Combined Construction and Operating License for 2 new units at the Virgil C Summer Nuclear Generating Station. [2] The new units would be AP1000 pressured water reactors, which produce 1100MW and were designed and sold by Westinghouse. In May of 2008, a $9.8 billion engineering, procurement, and construction contract was agreed to with Westinghouse. In March of 2012 the NRC approved the application with just one dissenting vote, by NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko who favored safety enhancements in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. [3] Construction on Unit 2 began March 9, 2013 as the first reactor to begin construction in the United States for 30 years. Construction on Unit 3 began on November 4, 2013. The original expected completion dates were in 2017 for Unit 2 and 2018 for Unit 3.
In October 2014, it was announced that there would be a one year, $1.2 billion delay from the original plan because of fabrication delays. [2] In February 2017, Westinghouse announced that new delays were needed, and new in service dates would be April 2020 for Unit 2 and December 2020 for Unit 3. [1] Just one month after that announcement, in March 2017, Westinghouse Electric Company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, citing $9 billion in losses from its nuclear construction projects in the United States. [1] After evaluating options to continue the project, South Carolina Electric & Gas determined it would be too costly, so construction was stopped and the project was abandoned on July 31, 2017.
The 21st century has seen a rapid expansion of clean energy industries like solar and wind power, but the nuclear energy industry has largely been left behind. [4] This lag can be attributed partly to nuclear power's PR problem. Solar and wind are seen in the media and by the public as energy sources that will help the environment and create jobs. This description could also fit nuclear, but the word nuclear often stirs fear associated with nuclear weapons, or get attributed to very public nuclear near disasters in the U.S. like Three Mile Island, or international nuclear disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima.The politics of getting a new nuclear power generator up and running can be challenging, especially when public fear overruns well thought out cost and benefit analysis. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that nuclear power stations would be most beneficial when they could be built near population centers so that transporting the energy wouldn't be so costly. [4] However, plans to build near population centers are likely to be met with the most resistance by local populations.
Finally, in 2016 the Tennessee Valley Authority was able to get Unit 2 of the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant up and running. [5] Located in Rhea County, Tennessee, there are only 18,452 people who live within 10 miles of the plant, but it close enough to major population centers in Chattanooga and Knoxville to supply power to 1,200,000 households. [5] It was the first new civilian nuclear reactor to come online in the United States since Watts Bar Unit 1 nearly 20 years prior in 1996, and remains the only one to be built this century. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission continued to receive applications for new reactors for energy companies it made financial sense for up through 2017, but Westinghouse's bankruptcy and the abandonment of the Virgil C Summer expansion have cast the prospects of these projects and the future of the nuclear industry in the U.S. in doubt.
The planned expansion of Virgil C Summer Nuclear Generating Station was abandoned most directly because of Westinghouse's bankruptcy, but also as a reflection of the challenges facing the modern nuclear power industry. Unless the politics of nuclear energy change, it will be difficult for the government to make the financial guarantees that would be necessary for future companies like Westinghouse to succeed. As old plants continue to close, and no new ones open, the United States appears to be heading for an energy future that does not meaningfully include nuclear energy.
© Ben Gillman. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] B. Plumer "U.S. Nuclear Comeback Stalls as Two Reactors Are Abandoned," New York Times, 31 Jul 17.
[2] S. Mufson "S.C. Utilities Halt Work on New Nuclear Reactors, Dimming the Prospects for a Nuclear Energy Revival," Washington Post, 31 Jul 17.
[3] "Scana Ends Dispute Over Early Nuclear Costs," Reuters, 29 Mar 12.
[4] M. Samuel, "How The Dream Of America's 'Nuclear Renaissance' Fizzled," NPR, 6 Aug 17.
[5] M. Blau, "First New US Nuclear Reactor in 20 Years Goes Live," CNN, 21 Oct 16.
