Multiple milestones for Vogtle 3 and 4
The Vogtle 3 and 4 construction project has achieved multiple milestones over the past month and is now more than 60% complete, Georgia Power announced. The Vogtle 3 and 4 construction project has achieved multiple milestones over the past month and is now more than 60% complete, Georgia Power announced.
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| Vogtle 4's upper condenser shell is lifted into place in the turbine building, one of the tasks carried out at the site during March (Image: Georgia Power) |
Major recent construction achievements include the placement of 200 cubic yards (150 cubic metres) of concrete to fill the walls of new shield building panels for unit 3; placement of more than 1800 cubic yards (1376 cubic metres) of concrete to fill the walls of the CA20 module; installation of component cooling water pumps on the unit 3 turbine building; placement of concrete for the elevated roof slab on the southwest corner of the unit 4 turbine building and the completion of vertical seam welds on placed shield building panels for unit 3.
The CA20 module, weighing over 1000 tonnes and standing over 21 metres tall, will house plant systems including fuel handling and used fuel storage areas. Unit 3's CA20 module was lifted into place in March 2014, and its walls were filled with concrete during a 45-hour continuous pouring operation completed earlier this month. Work on unit 4's CA20 module continues in the on-site modular assembly building. Meanwhile, work is continuing on activities including welding of the vessel top head for Vogtle 3.
The Vogtle site, near Waynesboro in eastern Georgia, is also home to two operating pressurized water reactors jointly owned by Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and Dalton Utilities. Georgia Power, a Southern Company subsidiary, said that the Vogtle expansion project is now more than 60% complete based on contractual milestones.
The two Westinghouse-designed AP1000 reactors have been under construction since 2013, with unit 3 expected to enter service by mid-2019 and unit 4 by mid-2020. Two AP1000s are also under construction at VC Summer in South Carolina, while a total of four AP1000 units are under construction at Sanmen and Haiyang in China. Sanmen unit 1 is expected to begin operations later this year and will be the first AP1000 to enter service.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
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