b'example of how Georgia Power is building a reliable and resilientUS$400 million to US$4 billion from the DOE to build a demonstra-energy future for our state, said Kim Greene, chairman, president,tion reactor of their Xe-100 design.and CEO of Georgia Power. It is important that we make theseThe Xe-100 is a pebble bed high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear kinds of long-term investments and see them through so we canreactor design, which X-energy says will be smaller, simpler, and continue providing clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy to oursafer compared to conventional designs. The reactor is expected 2.7 million customers. to generate 200 MWt (thermal megawatts) and about 76 MWe Plant Vogtle will generate more carbon-free electricity yearly(electric megawatts).than any other energy facility currently operating in the country,For fuel, X-energy is developing TRISO-X, a proprietary version, said Brendan Bechtel, chairman and CEO of Bechtel. Its comple- which would be pebbles utilizing tri-structural isotropic, or TRISO, tion reinforces that the United States is the responsible partner ofparticles. The uranium would be enriched to 20%, so the reactor choice for new nuclear energy around the world, and maintains U.S.can go longer times for refueling.interests in ensuring strong safety, security, and non-proliferationFurther, X-energy has developed a portable reactor, Xe-Mobile, standards. This is why Vogtles impact is much bigger than a singleafactory-builtandfueledreactorthatcanbetransportedvia project. rail, truck, or sea transport, to remote locations where electricity Bechtel has been a player in the nuclear power industry sinceneeded. The units would produce 2 to 7 MWe of electrical power.the 1950s, creating the worlds first reactor to generate electricity.Natrium SystemBechtel has designed, built, or provided construction services on 150 nuclear plants worldwide, accounting for more than 70 GW ofTerraPower, a Bellevue, Washington-based nuclear group that nuclear generating capacity. was founded by a group of entrepreneurs including Bill Gates, has Vogtle Unit 3 and 4 ownership breaks down as: Georgia Power,developed the Natrium system, which features a sodium fast reac-45.7 percent; Oglethorpe Power, 30 percent; MEAG Power, 22.7tor with an innovative molten salt energy storage system based on percent; and Dalton Utilities, 1.6 percent. those used in solar thermal generation units.Georgia Power began planning Plant Vogtle in 1972. Unit 1 beganThe project would comprise a 345 MWe sodium-cooled reactor commercial operation in 1987 and Unit 2 became operational inwith a molten salt energy storage system that can boost the plants 1989. At the time the 3,100-acre site along the Savannah River wasoutput to 500 MWe.the states largest construction program. A team led by TerraPower was awarded US$80 million in match-Units 1 and 2 use a Westinghouse pressurized water reactor, aing funding from the DOE in 2020 for its Advanced Reactor Demon-General Electric steam turbine and electric generator, to produce astration Program.combined capacity of 2.43 GW. The Nuclear Regulatory Commis- TerraPower purchased land in Kemmerer, WY, near a retiring coal sion has licensed the units through Jan. 16, 2047. plant, on Aug. 16, where it will build a demonstration project for New Technology its Natrium reactor. Under the public-private Energys Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program, the plan is to build an operational Meanwhile, potential next-generation nuclear power plants areplant in five to seven years.advancing. TerraPower reported that it selected four partners to support the X-energy, a nuclear reactor and fuel design engineering company,demonstration program: Bechtel, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, Pacifi-is developing Generation IV high-temperature gas cooled nuclearCorp, Energy Northwest, and Duke Energy. Bechtel will be responsi-reactors, as well as developing a tri-structural isotropic particleble for plant design, licensing, procurement, and construction.fuel. On Aug. 1, TerraPower further announced four vendors to sup-Formed in 2009, the Rockville, Maryland, company founded byport the project: Western Service Corp. James Fisher Technologies; Kam Ghaffarian, in January 2016 received a matching five-yearBWXT Canada Ltd.; and Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Service LLC.AdvancedReactorConceptCooperativeAgreementgrantof Eye-level rendering of Natrium facility in Kemmerer, WyomingBack to Contents THE UNCONTAINED 7'