Energy Department Steps In To Secure Georgia Nuclear Plants

PRESS RELEASE

Energy Department Steps In To Secure Georgia Nuclear Plants

Oct. 4, 2017 (EIRNS)—World Nuclear News, in reporting Secretary of State Rick Perry’s "remarkable action" to ensure the financial viability of traditional baseload industries such as coal and nuclear, also reported that the following day, Sept. 29, Secretary Perry announced that the federal government will extend up to $3.7 billion in further loan guarantees to ensure construction of the two advanced nuclear reactors, Units 3 and 4, at the Alvin W. Vogtle nuclear project in the state of Georgia, can be completed.

Completion of the two additional Generation 3+ design plants, with increased safety, and other improved features, had been in doubt since the March 2017 bankruptcy of Westinghouse company, which had started construction.

The Department of Energy release announcing the decision, quotes Perry:

"I believe the future of nuclear energy in the United States is bright and look forward to expanding American leadership in innovative nuclear technologies. Advanced nuclear energy projects like Vogtle are the kind of important energy infrastructure projects that support a reliable and resilient grid, promote economic growth, and strengthen our energy and national security."

The release sums up the national importance of this project, which has already created for Georgia approximately 6,000 on-site construction jobs, and will see approximately 800 permanent jobs once the units begin operation, thusly:

The Vogtle project is the first new nuclear power plant to be licensed and begin construction in the United States in more than three decades. The two new 1,100 Megawatt Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors at Vogtle represent the first U.S. deployment of this innovative technology. Once online, these new nuclear reactors are expected to provide more than 17 million megawatt-hours of clean electricity annually. This is enough reliable electricity to power more than 1.6 million American homes while avoiding nearly 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.