The new crown virus invaded the United States’ only nuclear power plant under construction, Vogtle, becoming the latest setback for this ill-fated nuclear power project.
According to the New York Times report on May 1, the Vogtle, Georgia nuclear power project under construction has accumulated 171 workers diagnosed with the new crown, and the absenteeism rate has risen dramatically “. John Kraft, a spokesman for Georgia Power Company, one of the project ’s shareholders, said on Thursday evening that 90 of the 171 people had positive new positive tests (active confirmed positive cases), and another 81 had recovered, “can return to work post”. The spokesman also said that 439 workers in the project had a negative new crown test, and 48 people are still waiting for the test results.
Vogtle nuclear power plant is located near Waynesboro, Georgia, about 150 miles east of Atlanta. The first unit was put into operation in 1987. In 2012, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the construction of the first batch of 4 AP1000 units in the local area, which are the Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant Units 3 and 4 in Georgia and the VC Summer Nuclear Power Station Units 2 and 3 in South Carolina, which became the United States. Newly approved nuclear power projects for the first time in 30 years.
However, the construction delays and cost overruns in the construction of the above projects have directly dragged Westinghouse into bankruptcy and reorganization in March 2017. After that, the V.C Summer project was pressed to pause, and Vogtle’s AP1000 project continued to advance.
The New York Times reported that according to statistics from the North American Construction Union, as of March, the Vogtle Units 3 and 4 project employed more than 9,000 workers. The largest engineering construction project.
The spread of the new crown epidemic slowed down the project again. On April 4, the Georgia Electric Power Company learned that the first worker tested positive for the new coronavirus. After multiple workers were diagnosed, the company reduced the number of people on the project site by 20%.
The parent company of Georgia Electric Power Company and US Southern Power Company said on the first quarter results call on April 30 that the next few months will be crucial Because of the need to adapt to a smaller and more streamlined workforce, the company still hopes to achieve the goal of two units being put into operation in November 2021 and November 2022 respectively.