Two new nuclear reactors approved in US

Physics Today: Today the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted in favor of granting a construction license for two nuclear reactors to be built in Georgia. As reported in the New York Times yesterday, the license will be the first to be issued since the Three Mile Island accident in 1978. In anticipation, the Southern Company had already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the project. Although natural gas prices have gone down in the US and no tax has yet been imposed on carbon emissions, proponents had pointed out that market and regulatory factors can change. Antinuclear groups, such as the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, tried to sue to block the license because of the risks involved, including potential cost overruns, regulatory problems, and radioactive waste management issues. The reactor design, Westinghouse’s AP1000 , is new. Once built, the reactors are supposed to be able to withstand earthquakes, plane crashes, and electricity outages and be less vulnerable to operator error.