Plugged In
Earth movers prepare the site for Vogtle Units 3 and 4.
Pace of Vogtle site work quickens
Monday, Sept. 14, 2009 — Site preparation work for Units 3 and 4 at Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Burke County has revved up in recent days.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued an Early Site Permit (ESP) for the two new units last month. The ESP is another step in the NRC's new, streamlined licensing process designed to reduce regulatory uncertainty by completing the process in stages.
Completion of the ESP process resolves many site-related safety and environmental issues, determines that the site is suitable for construction of a nuclear energy plant and successfully demonstrates the NRC's licensing process. Southern Nuclear filed an application for the ESP in August 2006.
Earth-moving vehicles have been furiously scraping and removing soil from the site. The holes for Unit 3 and 4 will be 90 feet deep. At the bottom point, the holes for both units will be large enough to hold five football fields.
The Shaw Group, the general contractor for the project, plans to remove 40,000 yards of soil daily from the site. Crews are working two 12-hour shifts, five days a week. In May, Southern Nuclear turned the Vogtle Units 3 and 4 site over to Shaw to begin construction activities.
Vogtle Unit 3 excavation is expected to be completed in January, and Unit 4 will be finished in February.
David Jones, vice president on-site for Southern Nuclear, said the ESP and limited work authorization allows construction crews to begin placing engineered backfill into the holes, retaining walls around the perimeter of the excavation, and mudmats, concrete and a waterproof membrane at the site. The backfill placement will begin early next year.
"The sequence of events will be to backfill and then install the retaining wall around the perimeter of Units 3 and 4," said Jones.
Jones said actual construction of the new plant cannot begin until Southern Nuclear receives a combined construction and operating license (COL) from the NRC. The COL is expected to be granted in July 2011.
In the meantime, excavation work is expected to move at breakneck speed. Despite the flurry of work, Jones said, safety for everyone working in and around Plant Vogtle is priority number one.
"It is an exciting time to be at Plant Vogtle," said Jones. "We plan to build the first nuclear plant in the United States in more than 30 years and we are going to do it with safety in mind. We are focusing on safety every day. If we don't do it safely, we will not be successful."
The Vogtle Project by the numbers
- The hole for Units 3 and 4 will be 90 feet deep.
- 40,000 yards of soil will be removed from the site daily.
- 4 million cubic yards of soil will be removed.
- The excavation will cover 42 acres at the surface and 27 acres at the bottom point.
- 97 dewatering wells around the excavation site will remove groundwater to lower the water table
- 56,000 yards of concrete will be ground up to construct a parking lot for work crews.
- 150 portable light towers have been installed around the excavation site.
- The Shaw Group work crew will work two, 12-hour shifts a day, 5 days a week.
- At the peak of development (2013), more than 3,500 contractors will be at the site.
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