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Dominion power now says Unit 3 at North Anna Power Station--if it is built--won't be producing power until 2019 at the earliest Date published: 7/29/2010
By RUSTY DENNEN Seven years into the application process, Dominion power's plan to add a third nuclear reactor at North Anna Power Station is still just that--a plan. If the company decides to build Unit 3 on the shores of Lake Anna--and it has yet to make that commitment--the earliest it could come online is 2019, the company now says. While the application process continues to play out, it's difficult for anyone to say with certainty, when--or even if--a Unit 3 will join the two existing reactors at the plant near Mineral in Louisa County. Since submitting its initial application for an early site permit in September 2003 to lock in a location for 20 years, Dominion has been revising its timeline. Early company estimates had the unit coming online in 2012, then 2015 and now 2019. Company officials say the framework of a new application process to allow the construction of the first new commercial power reactor in three decades, is taking time to navigate. Dominion received its early site permit in the fall of 2007, then applied for a combined license that would allow it to actually build and operate Unit 3. It is one of 19 reactor applications from around the country that are awaiting NRC approval. DESIGN CHANGE DELAY At one point, Dominion was at the head of the pack. But there have been delays because of additional NRC and state reviews of aspects of the project, along with more substantive reasons. The most significant was a decision by Dominion in May to go with a different reactor design. Dominion's first choice was GE Hitachi's Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor. But when Dominion was unable to get commitments from GE Hitachi that it needed to move forward, the utility sought proposals from other vendors. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' US-Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor won out. Luminant Generation Co. LLC has also chosen the Mitsubishi design for two planned reactors at its Comanche Peak plant in Texas. Neither of the new, advanced reactors has been certified by the NRC. It is not clear yet how the reactor design change will affect the timetable for North Anna Unit 3.
Date published: 7/29/2010
are because the companies cannot obtain private sector
investor money because of the enormous cost and long pay
back times - which by the way is a worldwide issue with
these plants.
The biggest regulatory issue is that until recently each
company wanted to build their own unique configuration
while the Europeans were certifying standard design plants
which mean new ones were the same design as previously
certified designs.
Of course for those that don't like govt regs we could let BP
build them.
Isn't it odd that the government is offering billions of dollars in loan guarantees to help pay for Governemnt regulations?
Government puts regulations in place, Government offers loans to pay for the cost of meeting regulations, Government collects interest payments on loans.
And some people wonder why new generation sources aren't built in this country.
in loans and trying to expedite the permit process? What
more do you want the administration to do? Also, please
note, the problems are not coming from the opposition but
from the process itself not the least of which is the huge
cost of the reactor. Dominion's experience trying to get a
new reactor mirrors most of the other plants delays also.
I don't understand the comment about making power more
costly. It's out of context (as usual from Obama opponents).
Obama said and again I quote "With my plan, energy costs will necessarily skyrocket..." so how can his administration possibly approve a clean power operation like this AND still meet his goals of making power too $$$ for consumption. Now you start to see why they are stonewalling this operation.
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