Standardized nuclear plant design eluding utility firms - Triangle Business Journal:

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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission certified the plantg designof ’s AP1000 at the end of 2005. Pre-certification was intended to help streamline an approvals processa that takes years before plant constructiomeven begins. Along with Duke and Progress, the , and the of Atlanta have applied to the NRC for licenses to buildxAP1000 plants. According to a Feb. 15 NRC letter that sets an application review schedule for the design ofthe AP1000, March 2010 is the targe date for completing the review proces s for the plant’s design.
Westinghouse spokesman Vaughn Gilbert acknowledges that design changez havebeen made, but he says the changes are minor and represent less than 10 percent of the overalk design. He says Westinghouse is responding to newNRC requirements, such as demonstration of safety in the event of an airplane He says the utilities have not requestexd the changes under consideration. But correspondence betwee n regulators and Westinghouse suggest that the company is pursuinfgdesign changes. In a June 27 letter from the NRCto Westinghouse’ds Robert Sisk, a manager in regulatory affairs, the NRC notexs problems with the scheduling due to changeds sought by Westinghouse.
Thomas Bergman, deputy directofr of the NRC division that overseess newreactor licensing, writesx in the letter that “ther remains uncertainty about the schedulde outlined in the February 15, 2008 letterd in light of changes. This uncertainty is created as a result of changee in the scope of work of the review requestedf by Westinghouse since developingvthat schedule, and delayed submittals.” Westinghouse’s latest revision, No. 17, was submittee Sept. 22. Those changes are not yet publicly NRC spokesman Scott Burnell characterizee the numerous changes asthe “back and forth” that is a routind part of the approvals process.
He says the planft design is sound and that the modifications are open itemsx that came up as Westinghouses talked withits customers. He says that because several utilities are interestedd in theAP1000 design, it was more efficient for Westinghouses to submit changes on their behal rather than for applicants to pursue changes Burnell says the final design for these utilitiez or subsequent applicants will be the He characterized the latest revision as the “17t h time that Westinghouse responded to staff Ed Lyman, a senior staff scientist at the who has trackeds the process, says utilities are requesting the design changexs to suit individual sites.
For he says TVA sought modifications forits Bellefonte, Ala., plant’s seismic design to fit the soil type of the Lyman says that if each applicanrt seeks reactor modifications for its the result could be many more changes, each of them requiringv regulatory review. Lyman says design changes add time to the review process and likely would add cost to the He says the outcome of the AP1000 review could affect how otheer utilities move forward with their plane for newnuclear generation. “Ity is a blow to NRC’s concept of standardizing he says.
Progress spokesman Rick Kimble says that while Progress submitted an application to the NRC so it woulsd have the option of pursuing new nuclear it has not committed to buildingy new reactors at its Shearom Harris site inWake County. The utilityh does plan to build a new nuclear plant in Kimble says design changes to the AP10009 have no impact onthe utility. He likens the changess to modifications one mightt make when building a Fixturesmay change, but the overalk design remains constant, he But the reactors, if built, will cost more than originallty estimated. In an Oct. 3 lettefr to the NRC, Progressd uses the $9.
3 billion cost projection of two new Florida plantsw as thenew upper-bound cost estimate for two new reactorxs at Harris. That’s more than double Progress’ previouws estimate of $4.4 billion. But even with the highefr projection, Progress says in document filed with the NRC that the construction at Harriw should not be as expensive as the work at theFlorids plant, which is a greenfield site. Although the Harrise site now has only one it was originally designed for four and will requirer less construction work than theFloridqa site.
Jim Warren, executive director of watchdohggroup , says Progress’ plans to rais e the level of Harris Lake for cooling water would contributd to the cost of new nuclear generation.