Regulators raise concerns about project’s timeline
Georgia regulators are raising fresh doubts about Georgia Power’s latest timeline for completing the nuclear power expansion at Plant Vogtle, in part because of lingering risks, productivity slips and concerns about aging equipment.
The Vogtle project is already years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. Virtually anyone in the state who pays an electric bill is likely to be on the hook for some of the costs, which have increased with repeated delays.
The Public Service Commission staff wrote in a report released this week that it doesn’t believe it’s achievable for Georgia Power to have two new reactors in service by the company’s latest schedule of May of 2021 and 2022, respectively. Regulators concluded it also will be a challenge for Georgia Power to make the state’s approved deadlines of November of 2021 and 2022.
Georgia Power spokesman Jeff Wilson referred an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter to the November dates and said, “We have every expectation we will meet those deadlines.” He added that the company’s May deadlines are “still achievable.”
The utility has about 8,000 workers currently on site, a record for the project south of Augusta, Georgia. Originally, the last of the new reactors was supposed to be in full operation by April of 2017.
Now, regulators say they are concerned some parts, such as valves and pumps, have been sitting so long without effective maintenance that they won’t work or will be out of warranty, adding more costs.
And in order to meet the project’s already pushed-back timeline, the PSC staff said the company is taking approaches “inconsistent with the staff’s collective experience in nuclear construction and large plant construction.”
Those maneuvers — including premature focus on systems testing before more construction is finished — could raise the risk of further delays, according to the PSC staff.
Critical equipment could be damaged if it is operated during testing without all the instruments and safety features that would be present with a complete system, it warned. Staff also raised concerns about bottlenecks of workers, which the company has tried to avoid by using a larger night shift.
Other concerns include higher worker absentee rates and much lower than planned productivity rates for mechanical and electrical trades.
Still, regulators concluded that if the company manages to complete the project on its latest schedule there is “a chance” it won’t go over budget again, in part because Georgia Power’s latest estimate includes $1.4 billion in contingency funds.
The PSC staff also wrote that planning schedules include more data and that “generally sound” methods were used by Southern Nuclear Co. to evaluate the project’s future costs and timing.