Clean Energy Insight - Moving Energy Forward

IHI ships heavy components for Vogtle project

9 August 2010

Japan’s IHI has started shipping the containment vessel bottom heads for the Vogtle AP1000 in the USA. It is the first time in 30 years that IHI has shipped nuclear power generation machinery to the USA.

IHI was awarded the contract for two containment vessels from CB&I in January 2009. The CVBHs, produced at IHI works in Yokohama, Japan will be delived within five shipments per unit, as separate plate components due to their size.The two steel containment vessels are each more than 40 meters in diameter, over 66 meters high, and approximately 4,000 tons in weight.

The first shipment set sail for the USA on 25 July 2010.

The components will be used at the two-unit Vogtle nuclear power plant planned by Southern Company subsidary Georgia Power. Ownership of the reactors will be split among Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power Corporation (30%), the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (22.7%) and Dalton Utilities (1.6%).

Southern Company, DOE agree to conditional nuclear loan guarantee terms

On June 11, 2010, Southern Company and Georgia Power announced an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for a conditional commitment for loan guarantees for construction of units 3 and 4 at Plant Vogtle. The loan guarantees would apply to future borrowings related to the construction.

Final approval and issuance of the loan guarantees are subject to receipt of a Combined Operating License from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), completion of final agreements, the receipt of any other required regulatory approvals and satisfaction of other conditions.

Total guaranteed borrowings would not exceed 70 percent of the company’s eligible projected costs of approximately $6.1, or about $3.4 billion.

The DOE loan guarantees are expected to save Georgia Power’s customers millions in financing costs annually over the expected life of any guaranteed borrowings, based on preliminary estimates. The actual amount of the savings will depend upon the final terms and the timing of the specific borrowings.

On behalf of the plant owners, Southern Nuclear filed applications with the NRC for an Early Site Permit (ESP) in 2006 and a Combined Construction and Operating License (COL) in 2008 for new units at the Vogtle site.

In August 2009, Southern Nuclear received the ESP for Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4. The Vogtle ESP is the first one in the industry to reference a specific technology, Westinghouse AP1000. Additionally, Southern Nuclear’s ESP comes with a Limited Work Authorization (LWA). The LWA allows limited safety-related activities to begin at the site prior to the COL being issued.

An ESP allows the NRC to review and pre-approve the site for construction of new units and allows the company to conduct design, construction and other site-specific evaluations before making a decision to build.

The COL will provide Southern Company with one license to build and operate a nuclear plant based on an NRC pre-approved design at a specific site.

Additionally, the new Vogtle units have received certification from the Georgia Public Service Commission. Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, and co-owner of the proposed units, filed an Application for Certification of Vogtle Units 3 and 4 on August 1, 2008. The filing was approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission on March 17, 2009.