It’s official: Dominion has filed a permit with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build a new power plant at its North Anna complex.
Playing the Global Warming card, the power company described the new nuclear power generator as “carbon free,” avoiding the emission of 7.4 million tons of greenhouse gases, equivalent to 1.5 million cars.
Dominion could not say how much the power plant will cost because it is still negotiating with vendors. But the Richmond-based power company should enjoy considerable leverage: It is the first power company to apply for a permit using the new Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor technology, and North Anna Three could become the reference site for the entire industry. General Electric-Hitachi, which developed the technology, presumably is highly motivated to see the plant built.
Safety is sure to be a major issue with regulators and the public. The new design is simpler and dramatically safer than older designs, asserts David Christian, Dominion’s chief nuclear officer. Using passive, gravity-based systems requiring 25 percent fewer pumps, motors and valves, the GE-Hitachi design should translate into lower up-front capital costs and operating costs as well. The estimated life span of the nuclear unit is 60 years.
One feature designed to appease environmentalists is the introduction of a closed-loop cooling system that will eliminate the need to discharge any additional heated water into Lake Anna. However, Dominion did not address the issue of how spent nuclear fuel rods would be stored or reprocessed, nor did any of the journalists attending today’s press conference think to ask. (Bacon’s Rebellion tapped in via a live webcast.)
If the new unit meets regulatory approval and Dominion proceeds with construction, it could generate 1,520 megawatts of electricity — enough to power one million new homes — by 2015. that compares to the estimated 4,000 megawatts that demand is expected to increase over the next decade.
It’s hard to see how alternative fuel sources — solar, wind, biomass — could hope to meet Virginia’s soaring electricity demand within the next eight years, even if the modest conservation initiatives under review are ever implemented. The alternatives are to build another coal-fired power plant, which unquestionably would pollute more, or build high-voltage electric lines to wheel in more power from ouside the state. But, as President Thomas F. Farrell II observed, “Virginia already imports more power from outside its borders than any other state but California.”
If Virginia is going to consume massive amounts of energy, we might as well reap the benefits of producing it — as long as safety and environmental safeguards can be assured. The power plant will add millions of dollars in revenue to the local tax base and create another 750 permanent, high-paying jobs in central Virginia. Dominion’s role in pioneering the new technology also should add luster to Virginia’s emerging role as a major player in the nuclear power industry. (See “AREVA Ponders Massive Investment in Lynchburg.”)
(North Anna Three rendering credit: Dominion)