Bad Welds, Electrician Exodus Hinder Vogtle Plant Builders

摘要

A slew of electricians exiting the project and the need to rework bad welds are among issues that monitors see hampering Georgia Power's Vogtle nuclear expansion as it nears its first in-service deadline in November. Altogether, the challenges could cause Vogtle Units 3 and 4 to miss their respective regulatory-approved completion targets by roughly "seven to nine months or more," according to Donald Grace, vice president at Vogtle Monitoring Group. The critical activity of hot functional testing is causing the latest delays to the schedule, according to testimony jointly submitted by Steven Roetger of the Georgia Public Service Commission, and William Jacobs, the project's independent construction monitor. Overall, Roetger and Jacobs testified that, "We believe that Unit 3 COD (commercial operation date) will be significantly later than forecast."