Reactor resurgence

On 9 February the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved construction of the nation’s first new reactors since 1978. Two Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactors, to be built near Augusta, Georgia, are the first to receive approval under the NRC’s new, speedier licensing scheme. Implemented by the Bush administration in 2007, the scheme combines both construction and operational licenses.

Gregory Jaczko, NRC chairman, had indicated reservations about the current licensing procedures in a speech at the annual Platts Nuclear Energy conference just hours before the NRC’s 4 to 1 vote was taken. Jaczko cast the sole dissenting vote. In his speech, he asked whether the industry should develop more detailed risk analysis for events such as last year’s accident in Fukushima (see PHYSICS TODAY, May 2011, page 18 ). “We have done a great job of reducing the number of smaller accidents,” he said, “but what [Fukushima] tells us is that we have not done enough to prevent the significant accidents.”

Assuming legal challenges by environmental groups do not halt construction, the first of the new reactors will come online in 2016, and the second a year later. Another 20 reactors are going through NRC’s review process, but few are expected to be built. Two AP1000 reactors are under construction in China.