ATLANTA (AP) – Nuclear regulators said Friday they will take a closer look at the construction of two new nuclear reactors being built at Georgia Power’s Vogtle plant after a special audit found electrical cables were not properly disconnected.
Southern Nuclear Co., the unit responsible for building the reactors of Atlanta-based Southern Co., has the option to challenge the results before the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission finally approves them.
The Special Inspectorate agrees with what independent observers hired by the Georgia State Utilities Agency have long been saying: that contractors and Southern did sloppy work while rushing to meet an unreachable schedule that required rework .
The inspectors found that Southern Nuclear had several previous chances of detecting problems.
“Executives have not emphasized that individuals take the time to do the job right the first time, seek advice when there is uncertainty, and stop when an unexpected condition arises,” the commission wrote in inspection documents.
Georgia Power spokesman John Kraft didn’t say whether Southern Nuclear would contest the results.
“Many of these issues have already been identified by Southern Nuclear and reported to the NRC itself,” Kraft wrote in an email. “Corrective action plans are in place and we have been working for months to resolve these issues in close coordination with the NRC.”
The commission released a statement and inspection papers on Friday after a special inspection of reactors under construction near Augusta was initiated on June 21. The electrical cabling systems should be designed in such a way that a single problem is prevented from turning off the nuclear power plant equipment necessary to maintain safety.
Georgia Power is a minority owner of the project, the total cost of which is expected to exceed $ 27.8 billion, apart from the $ 3.68 billion that the original contractor Westinghouse repaid to the owners after bankruptcy.
Other owners include most of Georgia’s electrical cooperatives and utilities. The Jacksonville Electric Authority in Florida and several other public utilities and cooperatives in Florida and Alabama are also required to obtain electricity from the facility.
According to Southern, Block 3 of Vogtle is now to be put into operation in spring 2022, while Block 4 is to be completed in 2023. Independent observers deny this schedule, saying June 2022 is the earliest possible start date for Unit 3 and the project will cost up to $ 1 billion more than what Southern has previously conceded.
The commission said it initiated the review after Southern Nuclear reported over 600 cases where the work did not meet cable separation requirements. The inspectors found that Southern Nuclear did not properly disconnect the cables for the reactor coolant pumps and the equipment to safely shut down the reactor. A less significant second finding released on Friday identified additional problems with the construction of the tray system that carries electrical cables.
The auditors rate their findings for the electrical cables with a “white” or “low to medium” significance, one level above the lowest green level. Still, they are enough to announce greater oversight by the NRC over the construction of Vogtle, if Southern Nuclear does not question the results and they are complete.
The commission stressed that it will not allow Southern Nuclear to load radioactive fuel into the facility until all standards are met. The commission said that with no fuel loaded, the public was never at risk.
The cost of the reactors approved in 2012 was originally estimated at $ 14 billion, with the first new reactor originally planned for 2016. Delays and costs rose, especially after Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy in 2017.
The company says the third reactor is 99% complete and the overall project is 93% complete.
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