One of NEI’s knowledgeable writers, Chris Charles, tallied up some promising world nuclear numbers in NEI’s weekly member newsletter. Below is his text that you may find useful.
Jan. 7, 2010—The year 2009 ended with two new nuclear reactors beginning operation worldwide and a total of 55 new units under construction, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. In 2009, 11 units began construction, portending a healthy outlook for additions to the world nuclear fleet in coming years.
Of the 11 units that began construction last year, nine were in China and one each in South Korea and Russia. The two new reactors starting up in 2009 were Japan’s 866-megawatt Tomari 3 and
India’s 202-megawatt Rajasthan 5. They both came online in December.
Given an average construction lead time of five years, by 2014 about one new large reactor per month should begin to come on line. In addition, construction was being reactivated on two twin-reactor plants, one in Slovakia and the other a floating nuclear station in Russia.
Picture of the construction of Westinghouse’s Haiyang nuclear plant in China. Westinghouse has quite the deck of pictures to peruse but make sure to check with them for permission if you would like to use them.
Comments
ZERO!
NRC is actively reviewing 15 COL applications. They will likely approve all of them. Will you give Obama credit for that? Or just assign blame as you see fit?
Is that really the case? My (uninformed) understanding was that the regulator had (has?) questions relating to the seismic qualification of the modular shield building. Has the actual issue been published yet publicly? Anyone have a link to the NRC reviewer's question?
Thanks
The certified design is based on Revision 15 of Westinghouse's design control document (DCD). That version was certified in 2006 and is still certified.
Westinghouse is now up to Revision 17 of the DCD, which the NRC is still reviewing. The questions that have been raised by the NRC are concerned with the amended design -- i.e., the changes that have been made since Revision 15.
"Obama's election is going to put more carbon into the atmosphere than any other single event in human history"
Including the discovery of petroleum as a fuel, or the invention of the internal combustion engine?
If your case is weak, shore it up with hyperbole!
"Obama could reduce unemployment by ordering the NRC to hire enough reviewers to put the application process on a 24-hour a day schedule."
Bush could have done the same thing. Did he?
So it's his fault if COL reviews are delayed, but not to his credit when they're approved? Kind of a double standard...