DOE To Approve Loan Guarantees For Georgia Nuclear Reactors

Sec. Moniz to Georgia, Energy Department Scheduled to Close on Loan Guarantees to Construct New Nuclear Power Plant Reactors

Ernest Moniz

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz today announced at the National Press Club that he will be traveling to Waynesboro, Georgia tomorrow, February 20, to mark the issuance of approximately $6.5 billion in loan guarantees for the construction of two new nuclear reactors at the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant. The project represents the first new nuclear facilities in the U.S. to begin construction and receive NRC license in nearly three decades. In addition, the deployment of two new 1,100 megawatt Westinghouse AP1000® nuclear reactors is a first-mover for a new generation of advanced nuclear reactors.
 

Vogtle Plant Construction Area

The two new 1,100 megawatt Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors at the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant will supplement the two existing reactor units at the facility. According to industry projections, the project will create approximately 3,500 onsite construction jobs and approximately 800 permanent jobs once the units begin operation. When the new nuclear reactors come on line, they will provide enough reliable electricity to power nearly 1.5 million American homes.

Project partners include Georgia Power Company (GPC), Oglethorpe Power Corporation (OPC), the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG), and the City of Dalton, Georgia (Dalton).

Department made conditional commitments for a total of $8.33 billion in loan guarantees. Tomorrow, the Department is scheduled to issue loan guarantees to GPC and OPC for a total of approximately $6.5 billion. The Department continues to work on the remaining conditional commitment for a $1.8 billion loan guarantee to MEAG.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized the Department to issue loan guarantees for projects that avoid, reduce or sequester greenhouse gases and employ new or significantly-improved technologies as compared to technologies in service in the United States at the time the guarantee is issued.

The nuclear facility is eligible for loan guarantees since it is expected to avoid nearly 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, which is the equivalent of removing more than two million vehicles from the roads. In addition, the Westinghouse AP1000^® reactor has incorporated numerous innovations resulting in significant operational and safety improvements.

Currently, the Department’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) supports a large, diverse portfolio of more than $30 billion in loans, loan guarantees, and commitments, supporting more than 30 closed and committed projects. The projects that LPO has supported include one of the world’s largest wind farms; several of the world’s largest solar generation and thermal energy storage systems; and more than a dozen new or retooled auto manufacturing plants across the country. (DOE)

Areva, EDF Team Up With Saudis

A series of agreements aimed at supporting Saudi Arabia's nuclear energy program have been signed by France's EDF and Areva with Saudi organizations.

The agreements will help develop the country's supply chain and workforce.

Two sets of agreements were signed by Areva and EDF with Saudi companies and universities during a visit to Riyadh on 30 December by French president Francois Hollande.

The French companies signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with five Saudi manufacturers: Zamil Steel, Bahra Cables, Riyadh Cables, Saudi Pumps and Descon Olayan. These MoUs aim to develop the industrial and technical skills of local companies to form a domestic supply chain.

Areva and EDF also signed agreements with four Saudi universities: King Saud University in Riyadh; Prince Mohammed bin Fahd University in Al-Khobar; and Dar Al Hekma College and Effat University, both in Jeddah. These agreements are intended to contribute to the development of Saudi Arabia's nuclear expertise.

Separately, EDF signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia's Global Energy Holding Company (GEHC) for the creation of a joint venture whose first task will be to carry out feasibility studies for an EPR reactor in the country. GEHC was established in 2011 to invest in the development of energy-related businesses.

Areva, with the support of EDF, recently launched a training program to provide Saudi companies with an understanding of the safety and quality requirements specific to the nuclear industry. The first session of this program was hosted on 17-18 December by the National Institute of Technology in Bahra, near Jeddah.

Although Saudi Arabia's nuclear program is in its infancy, the kingdom has plans to construct 16 nuclear power reactors over the next twenty years. A 2010 royal decree identified nuclear power as essential to help meet growing energy demand for both electricity generation and water desalination while reducing reliance on depleting hydrocarbon resources.

The country has bilateral nuclear cooperation agreements with countries including China, Argentina, France and South Korea. Recent months have seen reactor vendors including Toshiba, Westinghouse, Exelon Nuclear Partners (ENP) and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy forge various agreements to work together on proposals for future Saudi nuclear plants.  (World Nuclear News, 1/6/2014)

Babcock & Wilcox To Support Terrapower's Travelling Wave Reactor

A cutaway of the travelling wave reactor (Image: TerraPower)

Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) will provide TerraPower with services and program support, such as: design and fabrication of components; fuel fabrication process development, prototype fabrication and fuel services; reactor design engineering; reactor operations support; engineering services; flow loop testing; licensing support; and materials testing.

Initially developed in the 1950s, the TWR design resurfaced in the early 1990s, and was later patented by Intellectual Ventures, the company from which TerraPower was spun out of. The TWR is a liquid sodium-cooled fast reactor that uses depleted or natural uranium as fuel.

The core design of the original TWR concept envisages a moving region, or 'wave', in which the uranium is bred progressively into plutonium, which is the actual fuel that undergoes fission. However, in mid-2011 TerraPower announced a change of design to a standing wave reactor in order to address the problem of cooling a moving region. The current design would start the fission reaction at the centre of the reactor core, where the breeding stays, while fresh fuel from the outer edge of the core is progressively moved to the central region, as used fuel is moved out of the centre to the periphery.

TerraPower plans to build a 600 MWe demonstration plant, known as the TWR-P, by 2018-2022 followed by larger commercial plants of 1150 MWe from the late 2020s.
B&W is also actively marketing a new reactor design of its own - the 180 MWe mPower. The company pointed out that its own mPower reactor is based on pressurized water reactor technology using standard enriched uranium as fuel, whereas TerraPower's TWR "is a larger reactor based on Generation IV technology and designed to use depleted uranium as fuel." (World Nuclear News, 2/18/2014)

Ron Kirk is the new CASEnergy Coalition Co-Chair

NFRC is delighted about this appointment.

Ron Kirk

Ambassador Ron Kirk, former U.S. Trade Representative and mayor of Dallas, has been named co-chair of the Clean and Safe Energy (CASEnergy) Coalition. Kirk joins former EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman, who has served as the coalition’s co-chair since its 2006 launch.

In his role as the CASEnergy Coalition Co-Chair, Kirk will provide perspectives on how electricity choices impact local communities, and how investments in advanced energy technologies today will better prepare America to compete in the global marketplace.

Kirk is currently Senior of Counsel for Dallas-based Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher with a focus on strategic advice pertaining to global interests.

His leadership as U.S. Trade Representative under President Obama will help provide policy leaders and other audiences a broader understanding of the role nuclear energy plays in creating and sustaining American jobs. The global market for nuclear energy trade is estimated at $500 billion to $750 billion over the next decade.

Kirk served as the mayor of Dallas from 1995 to 2001. He was the city’s first African American mayor, and he led the city to garner more than $3.5 billion in new investment and created 45,000 new jobs. (CASEnergy Coalition)

About Clean and Safe Energy Coalition

The Clean and Safe Energy Coalition is a national grassroots coalition that promotes the economic and environmental benefits of nuclear energy as part of a clean energy portfolio. The coalition is comprised of more than 3,400 members across the business, environmental, academic, consumer, minority, and labor communities. To learn more about the coalition, please visit www.CleanSafeEnergy.org, follow us on Twitter @CASEnergy, and checkout theirr blog, Clean Energy Buzz.

For more information please contact:

The Clean and Safe Energy Coalition
(202) 338-2273
Media@CASEnergy.org