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Vol. XXIII • No. 6
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Bechtel Builds New Reactors at Georgia Power’s Vogtle Plant By Irwin Rapoport CEG CORRESPONDENT
Bechtel and its subcontractors are putting in a herculean effort to complete the new nuclear reactors, Units 3 and 4, located at Georgia Power’s Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Waynesboro, Ga. These new reactors are the first to be constructed in the United States in the past 32 years. Unit 3, 99 percent complete, becomes operational in the third quarter of this year and Unit 4, 95 percent complete, in the second quarter of 2023. “We knew building the first new nuclear units in the U.S. in more than 30 years would be challenging, but the project has endured extraordinary circumstances during construction, including the pandemic as the most recent,” said Jeff Wilson, Georgia Power spokesman. “Through it all, the project has endured and overcome multiple challenges. Vogtle 3 and 4 remains a critical investment for this state and, once the
new units are online, they will provide low-cost, reliable and emissions-free electricity for the state of Georgia for at least 60 to 80 years.” As the largest construction project in the state, Georgia Power’s Vogtle project employs more than 7,000 workers and will lead to 800 permanent new jobs upon completion. The construction crews are using many cranes, excavators, dozers, loaders and other standard pieces of equipment. “The project has continued to face significant challenges to performance, particularly in the areas of construction remediation work, work package closure, system turnovers and subcontracted scopes of work, all of which have been exacerbated by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic onsite,” stated the Vogtle Construction Monitoring Report. “The project team continues to prioritize safety and quality over schedule. With these key tenets in mind, the project team is working
closely with Bechtel and other subcontractors to remove barriers to production, where possible, and to support their efforts to increase production in a safe and quality manner. The project team also continues to monitor the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and potential risks to the health and safety of workers onsite and in the community, as well as the progress necessary to meet the project’s projected in-service dates.” The report estimated that productivity impacts due COVID-19 “consumed approximately three to four months
As the largest construction project in the state, Georgia Power’s Vogtle project employs more than 7,000 workers and will lead to 800 permanent new jobs upon completion.
The project has continued to face significant challenges to performance, particularly in the areas of construction remediation work, work package closure, system turnovers and subcontracted scopes of work, all of which have been exacerbated by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic onsite.
of schedule margin previously embedded in the site work plans for both units, with an estimated cost of $160 to 200 million.” Georgia Power’s share of the total project capital cost forecast is $9.5 billion. As of Feb. 7, the total project was approximately 95 percent complete. “The major remaining scopes of work are finishing direct construction, subcontractor construction and completing the ITP/start-up testing,” stated the report. “Direct construction is approximately 93 percent complete, which represents approximately 65 percent of the total construction scope. The remaining 35 percent of construction scope includes subcontracted scopes of work, which are approximately 95 percent complete as of July 2021. The ITP/start-up testing scope is approximately 55 percent complete and will continue to progress as construction completes and turns over components and systems to the ITP team.” see REACTOR page 4