Part 1 of 3 Parts
     In 2022 the U.S. nuclear industry continued to have serious difficulties caused by regulatory, technical and financial problems. It did enjoy solid support from the federal government.
     The global nuclear scene faced similar problems. There were plant closings and construction delays that have resulted in the nuclear share of global power generation falling to about ten percent. This was its lowest level since the 1980s, according to the World Nuclear Industry 2022 annual report.
     The U.S. generated more nuclear power than any other country on the globe last year. This amounted to about ninety-five gigawatts of capacity. China generated the next highest amount of nuclear power. Construction of new plants has been impeded by cost overruns and schedule delays. Nuclear power generation has been unable to match the plunging costs of natural gas and renewable energy sources. Nuclear power provides a critical twenty percent of U.S. electricity from the ninety-two light-water reactors that were constructed in a construction binge in the 1970s and 1980s.
     Some of these plants are struggling financially, many of them are approaching their scheduled decommission dates. The only new large reactors being constructed today are at Plant Vogtle in Georgia. There has been reports of huge cost overruns as well as incompetence and even fraud.
     Here are some of the outstanding highs and lows for the U.S. nuclear industry during 2022.
Diablo Canyon
     Diablo Canyon is California’s last remaining nuclear plant. It was granted about one billion dollars in support from the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) last November. This funding may permit the two-reactor plant to remain in business.
    The nuclear plant had been scheduled to close permanently in 2025. However, there were serious concerns about both greenhouse gas emissions and a potential lack of generating capacity in the state of California. This spurred California legislators to pass a bill in September with overwhelming support to try to extend the life of the plant through 2030. Diablo Canyon supplies approximately nine percent of California’s electricity.
     The Brattle Group carried out a study which indicated that keeping the nuclear power plant running could reduce carbon emissions in the state by about forty million metric tons over its extended lifetime. This would supplant power generation that would otherwise most likely be generated by fossil-gas plants.
     However, Diablo Canyon faces a reckoning with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commissions with respect to its license. The plant is also faced with years of deferred maintenance in the run-up to its anticipated retirement.
Plant Vogtle
    On October 17, Georgia Power reported that the loading of fuel into the Plant Vogtle Unit 3 reactor core had been completed. This marked an overdue milestone in the bumpy journey to construct and put into operation the two new reactors. During the reported loading of the fuel, technicians, and operators transferred scores of fuel assemblies one by one to the Unit 3 reactor.
     The California Power utility issued a press release that read, “Startup testing will begin next and is designed to demonstrate the integrated operation of the primary coolant system and steam supply system at design temperature and pressure with fuel inside the reactor. Operators will also bring the plant from cold shutdown to initial criticality, synchronize the unit to the electric grid and systematically raise power to 100%.” Vogtle Unit 3 is projected to become operational in the first quarter of 2023.
     On December 7th, Vogtle’s Unit 4 reactor completed cold hydro testing. This is the penultimate step before hot function testing which is scheduled to begin early in 2023.
     The two new Vogtle reactors are the first new nuclear units to be built in the U.S. in more than three decades. Their publicized problems have not been particularly beneficial to the reputation of nuclear power. The project is six years past the original scheduled completion date, and it will cost utility customer over thirty billion dollars which is twice of the original estimated cost. The DoE’s Loan Program Office provided over twelve billion dollars in loan guarantees to help complete the construction of Vogtle’s two new reactors.
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