pwr_july-2024 - 17

PLANT OF THE YEAR
6. With four reactor units in commercial operation
and a total capacity of nearly 5 GW,
Plant Vogtle is the largest nuclear power plant
in the U.S. Courtesy: Georgia Power Company
5. A look inside the Vogtle Unit 4 containment. The AP1000 design includes passive cooling
systems and other features that make it even safer than previous pressurized-water reactor
designs. Courtesy: Georgia Power Company
positive aspect was Southern Company's
familiarity with Westinghouse's
pressurized water nuclear steam supply
system (NSSS). The NSSS technology is
utilized at both Vogtle Units 1 and 2, as
well as units at Alabama Power's Plant
Farley, another Southern Company dual-unit
site. Another driving factor was
the AP1000's unique passive cooling
system (Figure 5), which provides up to
72 hours of emergency cooling in the
unlikely situation that all offsite power
is lost. The AP1000 had additional safety
advantages over some of the other designs
as well.
The fact that the NRC had already certified
an earlier version of the AP1000
design at the time of the selection
didn't hurt. Meanwhile, Westinghouse
was actively pursuing construction
contracts to build the AP1000, both
domestically and internationally, so the
co-owners saw signs that the design
would be well-supported throughout
the industry. Lastly, Georgia Power,
as agent for the co-owners, was able
to negotiate favorable terms and conditions
in an EPC agreement with the
consortium, making the AP1000 a
sound selection.
Notably, other AP1000 projects also
moved forward. Two units were ordered
in South Carolina for construction at the
V.C. Summer nuclear site and four units
were ordered in China-two for the
Sanmen power station and two for the
Haiyang facility. While the V.C. Summer
expansion was ultimately abandoned
after several years of work, the Sanmen
project was completed while the Vogtle
expansion was in progress, which provided
a number of benefits for the construction
and commissioning teams.
July 2024 | POWER
" Through a lessons learned sharing
agreement with Sanmen Nuclear Power
in China, we were able to get hands-on
testing experience on their AP1000 units
while also sharing our world-class safety,
nuclear operations, chemistry, and
maintenance programs, " Williams said.
" Our most significant lessons learned
were related to first-of-a-kind testing
requirements for the AP1000 that were
performed in China, which, as a result,
were not required to be performed again
at the Vogtle site. Vogtle engineers and
operators were also allowed to witness
startup testing and commissioning of the
Chinese units and bring that experience
to the startup testing and commissioning
of the Vogtle units. "
Constructing a dual-unit project at
Plant Vogtle provided benefits of its own.
Specifically, teams were able to incorporate
lessons learned from Unit 3 to make
the completion of construction, testing,
and startup on Unit 4 more efficient.
" There is no question that lessons
learned in the areas of project management,
quality assurance and control,
testing, and the state of the detailed design
would greatly benefit future AP1000
projects, " said Williams. " We hope that
others can benefit from the Vogtle project,
and we are committed to sharing
lessons learned and best practices with
other companies pursuing new nuclear.
We regularly host visitors from around
the world at the site, and conversations
are continuing today, " he added.
Bringing the Project to Completion
Vogtle Unit 3 entered commercial operation
on July 31, 2023. Unit 4 entered
commercial operation on April 29,
2024. " The completion of Vogtle 3 and
www.powermag.com
4 took perseverance, courage, cooperation,
trust, and a lot of hard work, " said
Abramovitz. " Along with our team from
across Southern Company, Georgia Power,
and Southern Nuclear, success on this
historic project required the hard work
and dedication of tens of thousands of
American craft workers and engineers,
a committed group of co-owners, and
regulators who had the courage to support
new nuclear when others did not. It
took a lot of hard work locally, and valuable
collaboration and support among so
many, including the federal government. "
And the proof is in the pudding.
" Vogtle Unit 3's initial performance has
exceeded our expectations, " stated Williams.
" Since it began commercial operation
in July 2023, Unit 3 has operated at
greater than 98% capacity factor, running
at 100% since commercial operation
was declared with the exception of
a planned five-day maintenance outage. "
Typical industry average capacity factors
are approximately 93%-and that's
for units that have been online for decades.
Williams said the excellent operation
of Unit 3 demonstrates the priority
that Southern Nuclear placed on safety
and quality during the construction of
the units. " We're looking forward to Unit
4 joining Unit 3 in its record of superior
performance to date, " he said.
The two new reactors bring Plant Vogtle's
total generating capacity to nearly 5
GW, making Vogtle's four units the largest
nuclear power plant (Figure 6) in the U.S.
" When you consider the timeline and
scale of the project, and the challenges
we overcame, it's truly a monumental accomplishment, "
Abramovitz concluded.
POWER couldn't agree more. In recognition
of the great work carried out by
Southern Company and the entire team
involved in the Plant Vogtle expansion,
POWER presents its 2024 Plant of the
Year award to Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4.
Congratulations! ■
-Aaron Larson is POWER's
executive editor.
17

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