Russia takes aim at US nuclear power by throttling uranium
Limits creates potential supply risks to utilities operating American reactors that generate almost a fifth of the country’s electricity.
The last time a nuclear reactor was approved in the state of Georgia, Jimmy Carter was ensconced in the White House and the Bee Gees had three of the top 10 hits on the Billboard charts.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted a licence to build and operate two reactors at a nuclear plant in Georgia – the first in the state since 1978.
The reactors will be added to The Southern Company’s Alvin W. Vogtle nuclear power plant near Augusta; $4 billion of the $14 billion project has been spent so far digging the foundation and laying water pipes, says The Times.
The article notes the reactors will be designed to withstand earthquakes and plane crashes and are less vulnerable to a cutoff of electricity, which caused the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan last March.
Once completed in 2016-17, the reactors will join two existing reactors at the nuclear power complex, which will become the largest in the country.
