US-based electric utility Georgia Power has installed first steam generator at unit 3 of the Vogtle NPP near Waynesboro, which was the first major lift under the recently established service agreement with Westinghouse. The agreement places Southern Nuclear, Southern Company subsidiary, which operates the existing units at Vogtle, in charge of oversight activities at the AP1000 construction site.
Each of the two AP1000s under construction at units 3 and 4 of the Vogtle NPP requires two steam generators, each 24 metres long and weighing 635 tonnes. The four steam generators were fabricated in South Korea and are already on site. By the end of 2013, four Westinghouse-designed AP1000 reactors were under construction in the USA, two at Vogtle and two at South Carolina Electric & Gas's (SCE&G’s) VC Summer NPP (units 2 and 3).
Work has continued uninterrupted at Vogtle despite Westinghouse’s filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March. On 27 July, project management and control was transferred to Southern Nuclear after a services agreement between Westinghouse and Vogtle's co-owners - Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power (45.7%), Oglethorpe Power (30%), MEAG Power (22.7%) and Dalton city (1.6%). Work had previously continued under an interim assessment agreement.
Westinghouse's parent company, Toshiba Corporation, agreed in June to pay Vogtle's owners a maximum of $3.68bn under parental guarantees put in place when Westinghouse received the order for the units in 2008. A similar agreement for $2.168bn was reached with Summer's owners in July.
Georgia Power said on 16 August that it is continuing work to complete its comprehensive schedule and assessments of cost-to-complete and cancellation costs for the Vogtle project by the end of the month. It expects to file its final recommendation with the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) as part of its 17th construction monitoring report on the plant. "Once submitted, Georgia Power will work with the Georgia PSC to determine the best path forward for customers," the company said.
Scana Corporation subsidiary SCE&G announced on 31 July it would abandon the Summer project, but recently withdrew its request for permission from state regulators to proceed with the plan, pending the completion of governmental reviews.