Are the new reactors at Georgia’s Vogtle nuclear plant — years behind schedule and billions over budget — a sign of an industry in collapse or a revival?
WAYNESBORO, Ga. — The cooling towers and hulking containment buildings of the new units at the Alvin W. Vogtle electric plant served as a dramatic backdrop for Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s recent declaration that “it’s time to cash in” and move quickly to build more nuclear plants in the United States.
Whether the two new units at Vogtle, which bring online enough electricity to power about 1 million homes, are the success Granholm describes is hotly contested. As the administration frames the narrative of the plant as one of perseverance and innovation that clears a path for restoring U.S. nuclear energy dominance, even some longtime boosters of the industry question whether this country will ever again have a vibrant nuclear energy sector.
Southern Company executives nodded to the many setbacks the Vogtle expansion encountered but expressed no regrets. “We have proven in the United States that we can do hard things,” said chief executive Chris Womack. “We can build big things. We can build new nuclear plants.”rethinking Administration officials counter that tech companies, with their surging energy needs and commitments to zero-emissions energy, are changing the equation. They point to nascent agreements with both big utilities and small nuclear power start-ups through which the tech firms are aiming to bankroll some of the infrastructure construction themselves, shielding other ratepayers and utility investors from financial risk.
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