SCE&G and Santee Cooper have jointly owned and operated a single nuclear reactor at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville since the 1980s. (File photo)
Contributing Writer
The calls for action are constant, loud and clear. Citizens, environmental groups and government officials are demanding that the nation reduce its dependence on foreign oil, establish an environmentally clean power source and develop renewable energy resources.
South Carolina Electric & Gas and its parent company, SCANA, believe nuclear power is at least part of the answer and in 2005 began the application process to build two nuclear reactors in rural Fairfield County. The $10 billion plan involves building two Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville, where SCE&G and Santee Cooper have jointly owned and operated a single reactor since the 1980s.
In September, SCE&G was given the OK to begin the site preparation for the reactors, but, as of press time, permission had not been granted for the construction of the two nuclear units. The S.C. Public Service Commission will begin hearing the application for construction Dec. 1. If all goes well, SCE&G could begin construction on the site in 2010 and have the first plant up and running by 2016. The second would follow in 2019.
According to SCANA spokesman Robert Yanity, South Carolina already gets 52% of its electricity from nuclear power. Yanity says our state is nuclear-friendly — “We are third in the country; the state average is about 20%” — and he believes that has kept the price of electricity reasonable here.
The state has seven reactors. The others are in York (2), Darlington (1) and Oconee (3) counties.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the V.C. Summer plant had a 16% share of the state’s nuclear generation in 2007, with a net capacity of 966 megawatts. The plant generated 8,479 megawatt-hours.
“The synergy, with the existing plant and the geology, works,” Yanity said, noting that the adjacent Monticello Reservoir that is fed by the Broad River is capable of supplying two more reactors.
Nuclear plants make electricity much the same way that other plants do. Steam is used to spin a turbine-driven generator, which in turn produces electricity. The difference is the source of the heat used to make that steam. Whereas other plants burn coal or oil to create heat at a nuclear plant, inside a nuclear reactor, heat is produced by splitting atoms of uranium fuel.
According to SCE&G’s Web site, “Water heated by the nuclear fuel is kept under pressure inside a closed system. This hot water (about 600 degrees Fahrenheit) flows through a heat exchanger called a steam generator. Here, it heats another loop of water that becomes the steam used to turn the turbine to make electricity. The water from the reactor remains in this closed system to be used over and over. It is not mixed with the water that becomes steam. After turning the turbine that makes the electricity, the steam is condensed by cooling water from Monticello Reservoir. The condensed steam — now water — is reheated and the process is repeated.”
Yanity said, “The reactors don’t consume as much water as folks believe; 98% is returned and reused, while the other 2% evaporates.”
Tom Clements, Friends of the Earth’s Southeastern nuclear campaign coordinator, has a different perspective. In speaking to hydrologists at the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, Clements said he learned that they have found that the Broad River is already stressed by usage from North and South Carolina.
“As each nuclear reactor uses about 20 million gallons of water per day, the impact to lakes and rivers could be severe. The Broad River is now facing both the Duke and South Carolina Electric & Gas reactor proposals, an unprecedented threat to any river in the United States.”
Clements also noted that, in SCE&G’s 200-page application, “their analysis of efficiency and energy conservation is ludicrous. The company is simply ignoring that the cheapest thing to do is invest in efficiency and conservation.”
But water consumption is not the biggest hurdle facing the construction of what the utility estimates is a $9.8 billion project — $5.4 billion of which SCE&G will be responsible for, as it will share the total cost with Santee Cooper.
Though the V.C. Summer plant has been operating for 20 years with what Yanity says is a “safe, reliable and affordable track record,” he says the 1986 nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine has contributed to a negative view of the technology.
“We are only the second company in the country (to apply for a permit) in 30 years,” he said.
Attitudes could be loosening some, though. The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission now has a dozen applications sitting before it for new nuclear units but has not approved any of them.
Scott Shaw, communications manager for nuclear power plants at Westinghouse, said the AP1000 model proposed for the plant went through “the most rigorous testing and review process and an assessment by the NRC. They are our police.”
Shaw said that the current pressurized water reactors are safe but that the AP1000 is safer because it uses passive safety systems that rely on no A/C power and no intervention by reactor personnel. “It will safely shut down by itself,” he said, reducing the chances of human error.
The AP1000’s design has gone through 16 revisions as documented by the commission. As of February, Westinghouse had submitted 122 technical reports for staff review.
Shaw says that’s fairly normal. “It is not a major change to the design; the changes are to better comply with NRC guidelines and regulations,” he said.
Though Clements agrees that design changes are part of the process, he cautions that, without a solid, standard reactor design, which is what the AP1000 was supposed to be, construction costs could escalate rapidly. “This is the same problem we faced in the ’80s,” he said, noting, “Every reactor was different and cost shot through the roof. Right now, it is unclear if there is going to be a standard design to keep cost lower. This issue is making investors and Wall Street extremely nervous.”
Noel Kane-Maguire, professor of chemistry at Furman University, believes this new reactor design is a strong one and said that, in addition to exploring a diverse menu of energy sources, “nuclear power should be a serious ‘look at’ in view of the current situation.”
The other hurdle comes wrapped in a package of economic benefits. SCANA’s Yanity believes that the construction phase would create 3,000-4,000 jobs. Tiffany Harrison, a spokeswoman for the Fairfield County Economic Development office, said the county has a huge shortage of skilled construction workers, such as welders.
“We are pulling together our partners to see what can we do to start feeding people into the pipeline to construct this facility,” she said. “We want to find as many local people as we can.”
Friends of the Earth’s Clements wonders where all these workers will come from in a county with a relatively small population — around 24,000. He also wonders, “When the construction is over, they leave. SCE&G needs to give public proof they will be hiring local people,” he said.
Upon completion of construction, the plant would create 800-1,000 full-time skilled jobs. Harrison said SCANA is working with technical colleges statewide to create a two-year degree program for reactor operators. Central S.C. Alliance data indicates power plant operators earn about $58,530 per year.
While per capita income in Fairfield County was $22,524 in 2004, according to the Central S.C. Alliance, Harrison said skilled welders are currently starting at $15-16 per hour.
“This is a big economic driver,” said Yanity, “not only for Fairfield, but for the region.” According to data provided by SCE&G, the company currently pays the county more than $19 million in property taxes for the Summer plant.
“It is a huge capital investment that will have a major impact in terms of tax revenue — but what an opportunity for our citizens to get skills they can use elsewhere, in other jobs,” Harrison said.
Other hurdles stand in the way. Yanity said that, although SCE&G recently completed its Combined Construction and Operation License application with the regulatory commission, the utility also filed an application with the S.C. Public Service Commission requesting permission to increase its rates by 2.5% through 2019, allowed under last year’s Base Load Review Act.
“It will be a ‘pay as you go’ while we go through the construction process,” Yanity said. The Public Service Commission and Friends of the Earth protest the measure, but Yanity said it will save consumers $1 billion over the life of the project. “If we pay construction costs now, it will save the customer more than paying interest on a lump sum when the reactor is built.”
When SCE&G received the go-ahead in September to begin the site preparation, which includes the relocation of a railroad spur, the Public Service Commission voted unanimously to grant permission with the understanding that SCE&G would pay for the work. Ratepayers would not be charged for the project if the reactors are not approved.
Harrison said Fairfield County is acting under the assumption that the reactors will get the necessary approvals. “We are pleased that they have chosen to put them here,” she said. “They’ve been great corporate citizens since they’ve been here.”