New Nuke in USA

I'm surprised. I wouldn't have thought to see any proposal this soon.

Duke Power Co. and Southern Co. have selected a site in South Carolina for a potential nuclear power plant, which would be one of the first ordered in the U.S. in more than 30 years.

Duke Power, the electric utility subsidiary of Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy Corp., will be the developer and licensed operator of a potential plant co-owned by Atlanta-based Southern, both companies said.

Duke Power chief nuclear officer Brew Barron estimated the cost of building the new plant to be $4 billion to $6 billion. The utilities expect to file an application to build the plant with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in late 2007 or early 2008, Duke Power said

Makes you wonder it that $4-6 billion includes the court costs to fight all the swampies that will be flipping out over this.

Here's a WaPo article with more information.

The site is the same one where Duke Power had stared constructing a nuclear plant in the 1970s, Barron said. The project was abandoned in the 1980s when load projections were lowered, he said.

"This site was a very good one at that time, so it's not surprising the Cherokee site came up again at the top of the list," he said on a conference call. "We saw it as being a win-win."

Cherokee County last year approved an incentive package that offered a 50 percent break on property taxes if the nuclear plant was located there. The site is in the Cherokee Falls community near Gaffney, S.C.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford welcomed the announcement and the potential for new jobs.

That should make the approval process a lot easier, considering that it has already been investigated once.

Duke has said previously a new nuclear plant will feature two Westinghouse Advanced Passive 1000 reactors. Each reactor is capable of producing about 1,117 megawatts, Duke Power said.

The Westinghouse Advanced Passive 1000 reactor is much simpler than older types of reactors.

The passive safety systems are significantly simpler than the traditional PWR safety systems. They do not require the large network of safety support systems needed in typical nuclear plants, such as AC power, HVAC (heating, ventilation & air conditioning), cooling water systems and seismic buildings to house these components. Simplification of plant systems, combined with increased plant operating margins, reduces the actions required by the operator. The AP1000 has 50 percent fewer valves, 83 percent less piping, 87 percent less control cable, 35 percent fewer pumps and 50 percent less seismic building volume than a similarly sized conventional plant. These reductions in equipment and bulk quantities lead to major savings in plant costs and construction schedules.

Too bad they still aren't looking at using more innovative designs. But, I suppose that the US will only accept so much change, and this is going to be hard enough as it is.

Let the protests begin!