17 May (NucNet): As the US economy rebounds and electricity demand increases, additional nuclear power plant construction can be anticipated beyond the five reactors already being built in Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee, the Nuclear Energy Institute’s chief executive has told industry leaders.
In his keynote address to the NEI’s annual conference this week, NEI president and chief executive officer Marvin Fertel said 10 applications for construction and operating licences and two for early site permits are under Nuclear Regulatory Commission review.
“We don’t expect construction on those projects to start until later this decade, but we do expect more new reactors to be built as electricity demand recovers,” Mr Fertel said. He noted that US electricity demand last year was 1.1 percent lower than in 2011 and 2.5 percent lower than in 2007.
Mr Fertel hailed the milestones achieved this year at facilities in Georgia and South Carolina – the pouring of concrete basemats for new reactors that now are about 40 percent complete – as evidence of the industry’s progress.
“These are the largest construction projects in their states, and they are driving direct employment for nearly 4,000 workers, twice that during peak construction,” he said.
Mr Fertel identified several policy priorities that will better position the nuclear energy sector to help address societal needs. They include the need for new reactor designs, including small reactors with less than 300 megawatts of generating capacity, a new policy for used nuclear fuel management, and post-Fukushima safety improvements.
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