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Science & Technology
Westinghouse Nuclear Plants Approved For Construction
2012-01-01
Energy production and job creation? Does the Obama administration know about this??
The Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plant has been approved for construction in the US. This modern plant that includes passive safety features not requiring external power for emergency cooling is already being deployed in countries overseas. Two plants are to be constructed in Georgia by the Southern Company at the Vogtle facility and site preparations are already underway.

The AP1000 is one of a new generation of nuclear plants that use passive measures such as gravity, evaporation and condensation to remove excess heat in an emergency. The plant design is greatly simplified using requiring less piping, valves, control cabling, pumps, and earthquake hardened building volume than previous generation designs.

The building of the two plants in Georgia will result in 3500 construction jobs each during the construction phase and a permanent increase of 800 jobs to staff the two plants in addition to the 900 staff at existing plants 1 and 2 built in the 1980's.
Posted by:crosspatch

#7  Remember, energy can be as cheap as chips, but if comparative advantage is destroyed by transfer taxes the economy will still SUCK.

F11 Key?
Posted by: Pappy   2012-01-01 13:22  

#6  As I understand it, this is an advanced 3rd generation (3G) reactor. It will generate about the same amount of electricity as the earlier 3G designs but should be easier to build, safer and have indefinite on site storage of rad waste.

The PRChina has 4 of these under construction.

But I agree w Moose that a 4G design that can be mass produced would be a real game changer in a good way.
Posted by: Lord Garth   2012-01-01 09:38  

#5  The quiet revolution in nuclear power is in small, very low maintenance systems. These are in development by no fewer than five major companies.

Some are more like typical small reactors, needing a staff to function and for maintenance, giving a medium small amount of power for a very energy consumptive corporation or a few.

But the most interesting from my point of view are those about the size and shape of a large shipping container that are factory sealed and kept underground in a concrete pit with a concrete slab lid. They have just two above ground cables, a large, electrical output of DC or AC and a smaller diagnostic cable that goes to a computer.

Typically, such a reactor would provide power for a 5 square mile mixed use central city area, or a 10-20 square mile mixed suburban use, for a set time, after which the lid would be removed, and the reactor sent back to the factory, a new one put in its place.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2012-01-01 09:10  

#4  Remember, energy can be as cheap as chips, but if comparative advantage is destroyed by transfer taxes the economy will still SUCK.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2012-01-01 08:06  

#3  There is actually a lot of good news on the nuclear energy front. There are some previously licensed plants that were never built after Three Mile Island that are now being built by the Tennessee Valley Authority and there are a couple of plants where construction was completed but were mothballed that are now being started. Looks like 2012 will see the start of a major ramp up in nuclear power generation in the US after a 20 year break.
Posted by: crosspatch   2012-01-01 05:00  

#2  Obama science team approved...
The AP1000 is one of a new generation of nuclear plants that use passive measures such as gravity, evaporation and condensation to remove excess heat in an emergency.

John Holdren, Obama science advisor, advocates “Large-scale geoengineering projects designed to cool the Earth,” such as “shooting pollution particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect the sun’s rays.”
Posted by: Skidmark   2012-01-01 04:45  

#1  Better late than never.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2012-01-01 04:27  

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