An update on fire at Plant Vogtle – and word of an incident days earlier
WAYNESBORO, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - We have new details about the transformer fire at Plant Vogtle back on Aug. 13.
The fire was outside the nuclear portion of the plant and was extinguished quickly, according to Georgia Power.
A report from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission states the equipment affected was the safety-related regulating 480-volt transformer.
That supplies power to the Unit 2 B engineered safety features chiller.
Units 1, 3 and 4 were unaffected.
It happened less than a week after the plant another incident to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
READ THE LETTER REPORTING THE INCIDENT:
The fire put Plant Vogtle on alert for over two hours, a situation that officials said never threatened public safety.
An alert “means an event has occurred that could reduce the plant’s level of safety,” the company said in a statement.
Out of four levels of emergency classifications required by the NRC, an alert is second from the lowest.
It happened just a few days after an inspection at the plant.
READ THE INSPECTION DOCUMENT:
It’s also only been weeks since the newest unit opened at the plant – seven years late and well over budget.
Units 1 and 2 have been operating at the plant for decades, while Units 3 and 4 have been under construction in recent years.
The two older nuclear reactors were completed in 1987 and 1989. If they lose primary electricity from the outside grid, as well as backup electricity from a diesel generator, the reactors can overheat and melt down. A diesel generator was never needed during the incident earlier this month, Georgia Power said.
Vogtle’s two newer nuclear reactors are designed to avoid a meltdown from a power loss.
All four of the nuclear reactors onsite continued to produce electricity at full power, Georgia Power said.
Unit 3 began operation about a year ago and then Unit 4 went online in April. They’re the first new nuclear reactors in the U.S. in over 30 years.
The expansion project’s overall cost, including financing, was listed in December as $31 billion for Georgia Power and three other owners. Add in $3.7 billion that original contractor Westinghouse paid to walk away from construction, and the total nears $35 billion.
Georgia Power owns 45.7% of the reactors. Smaller shares are owned by Oglethorpe Power Corp., which provides electricity to member-owned cooperatives, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and the city of Dalton. Some Florida and Alabama utilities have also contracted to buy Vogtle’s power.
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