Plant Vogtle’s nuke reactors hit a roadblock
Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
Do you or one of your neighbors have an extra closet — maybe some storage space or a shed out back — where a mom-and-pop nuclear facility can dispose of their low-level radioactive waste? Plant Vogtle might need to borrow it.
The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and other environmental groups recently raised a red flag about two new reactors proposed for the nuclear plant near Augusta that’s owned and operated by several Peach State utilities, including Georgia Power.
At issue is whether the nuclear facility, already home to two power-generating white elephants, has sufficient plans to safely dispose of low-level radioactive waste produced by the new reactors.
And late last week, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, a three-judge federal panel that’s part of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and one of the many steps in the complicated process of approving nuke plants, said the environmental groups’ concerns merit a closer look. Should Southern Nuclear, the Southern Co. subsidiary that operates Plant Vogtle, not produce a better long-term plan, the federal agency might not issue the company a permit to build the new reactors.
