10
NuclearPlantJournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, September-October 2015
New Energy
Watts Bar 2
Bechtel
congratulated the workforce
at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts
Bar Unit 2 in Tennessee – the first new
U.S. nuclear reactor expected to come
online this century – on the plant’s dec-
laration of substantial construction com-
pletion and its request for issuance of an
operating license from the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC). Thou-
sands of craft and Bechtel employees are
among those who have worked to com-
plete the delivery of the plant for TVA.
Additional achievements are: work
has achieved a 98-percent quality-control
acceptance rate on the first inspection, the
workforce has maintained an exceptional
safety record, amassing at one time 33
million hours (nearly five years) without
a day lost to injury, in June 2015, Watts
Bar was the first U.S. plant to complete
post-Fukushima safety upgrades and
an inspection by the NRC. Watts Bar
Unit 2 successfully completed the NRC’s
operational readiness team inspection
this summer.
Contact: Fred deSousa, Bechtel,
telephone: (703) 429-6435.
Barakah
Under the patronage of His
Excellency Eng. Suhail Mohamed Faraj
Al Mazrouei, UAEMinister of Energy, the
Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation
(ENEC) celebrated a key milestone
for the UAE peaceful nuclear energy
program as Barakah becomes the world’s
leading nuclear energy construction site
with four identical reactors being safely
constructed simultaneously in one site.
The milestone was achieved
following the commencement of
nuclear-related construction – regulated
construction activity related directly to
the reactor, containment building and
supporting structures – for Unit 4, the
UAE’s fourth nuclear energy reactor.
ENEC’s Construction License for Units
3 and 4 was approved by the Federal
Authority of Nuclear Regulation (FANR)
in September 2014.
With the construction of four identical
nuclear energy reactors now underway,
Barakah surpasses nuclear construction
sites in China, the United States of
America, the United Kingdom, Russia
and other countries to become the largest
project with simultaneous construction of
identical nuclear technology in the world.
Ahead of the start of official
construction for Unit 4, preparation works
for ENEC’s fourth reactor were carried
out under a separate license over the past
seven months. The extensive preparation
included lean-concrete to provide a mud-
mat, waterproofing, cathodic protection
and reinforcing steel installation.
Construction of the Reactor Containment
Building (RCB) will be completed over
the next 36 months; with Unit 4 on track
to enter commercial operations in 2020
following the completion of ENEC’s first
three reactors. ENEC must apply for a
separate operating license before plant
operations can begin.
Contact: ENEC, website:
http://
Vogtle
Georgia Power
announced the
latest milestone in the Vogtle nuclear
expansion – the recent placement of the
first six shield building panels for Unit 3.
The safe placement of the panels follows
the heaviest “lift” of the project, the 2.28
million-pound Unit 3 CA01 module,
earlier this month.
The
shield
building,
which
encapsulates the Unit 3 containment
vessel, is comprised of more than 160
individual steel panels. The reinforced
panels can weigh 10 tons or more and
be filled with concrete. Once completely
assembled, the shield building will
provide structural support of the
containment cooling water supply and
protect the containment vessel, which
houses the reactor vessel and associated
equipment.
Other recent milestones at the Vogtle
expansion site include the Unit 4 CA04
module placement in June 2015 and
concrete placement for the Unit 3 Annex
Building basemat. Georgia Power also
recently announced the completion of
transmission upgrades and installations at
the site in preparation to connect the new
units to Georgia’s power grid.
The expansion at Plant Vogtle is
part of Georgia Power’s long-term plan
for providing safe, clean, reliable and
affordable energy for Georgians. Once
units 3 and 4 join the existing two Vogtle
units already in operation, Plant Vogtle
is expected to generate more electricity
than any U.S. nuclear facility, enough to
power more than one million homes and
businesses in Georgia.
Contact: Georgia Power Media
Relations, telephone: (404) 506-7676,
website:
Fangchenggang
The loading of fuel into the core
of unit 1 at the Fangchenggang nuclear
power plant in China’s Guangxi province
was completed on September 6, 2015.
The unit is expected to start up by the end
of 2015.
A total of 157 fuel assemblies
have been loaded into the CPR-1000
pressurized water reactor (PWR) since
the plant received permission to load
fuel from the National Nuclear Safety
Administration on September 2, 2015.
Plant owner, China General Nuclear
(CGN) noted that, unlike its other nuclear
power plants, the fuel loading machine
at Fangchenggang 1 was supplied by
its China Nuclear Power Technology
Research Institute subsidiary. This marks
the first deployment of the machine. The
institute is also to supply fuel handling
machines for unit 2 at Fangchenggang
and units 5 and 6 of CGN’s Yangjiang
plant.
Construction of the first two units at
the Fangchenggang plant began in July
2010. Units 1 and 2 are scheduled to begin
operation in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
Source:
World Nuclear News
,
