The US is getting its first new nuclear reactor in 40 years
https://grist.org/article/first-us-nuclear-reactor-40-years-online-georgia/Open linkView original on lemmy.blahaj.zonehttps://grist.org/article/first-us-nuclear-reactor-40-years-online-georgia/Open linkView original on lemmy.blahaj.zone
So glad to see this finally online. It's insane to me that countries like Germany want to kill nuclear power and also want to avert the climate crises. I get it - renewable is better, but it's simply not there yet. Nuclear is the best we have while we develop better and more efficient solar/wind power.
Ideally we could avoid the climate crisis without nuclear but the world isn't ideal and avoiding nuclear isn't possible rhe good thing is that a lot of waste can be used again like to power space probes to other planets
The article touches on this a little, but how much of the ballooning cost of Vogtle is inherent to nuclear and how much is the result of poor project management and/or fraud?
I found an article that describes this reactor project and a related one. Both seem to have had issues with delays relating to the modular building aspect and the other project was abandoned entirely, then the contractor pled guilty to fraud charges.
Currently sitting at 98% rated power, which I'd consider online and operating at nominal conditions. https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/event-status/reactor-status/ps.html
Hope all goes well as they transition from testing to steady state operation. Historically, Cycle 1 has has been rough for many units due minor latent equipment issues and uncaptured debris from construction. Unit 4 should have initial criticality late this year as well!