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Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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A series of firsts delivers new Plant Vogtle units
Southern Nuclear was first when no one wanted to be.
The nuclear subsidiary of the century-old utility Southern Company, based in Atlanta, Ga., joined a pack of nuclear companies in the early 2000s—during what was then dubbed a “nuclear renaissance”—bullish on plans for new large nuclear facilities and adding thousands of new carbon-free megawatts to the grid.
In 2008, Southern Nuclear applied for a combined construction and operating license (COL), positioning the company to receive the first such license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2012. Also in 2008, Southern became the first U.S. company to sign an engineering, procurement, and construction contract for a Generation III+ reactor. Southern chose Westinghouse’s AP1000 pressurized water reactor, which was certified by the NRC in December 2011.
Fast forward a dozen years—which saw dozens of setbacks and hundreds of successes—and Southern Nuclear and its stakeholders celebrated the completion of Vogtle Units 3 and 4: the first new commercial nuclear power construction project completed in the U.S. in more than 30 years.
P. Kafalas, M. Levenson, C. M. Stevens
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 2 | Number 5 | September 1957 | Pages 657-663
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE57-A25432
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The variation of alpha, the ratio σc/σf, has been determined for U235 and Pu239 as a function of position in EBR. Samples of U235 and Pu239 were exposed in the core, inner blanket, and outer blanket; the samples were analyzed radiochemically to determine the fraction fissioned and mass spectrometrically to determine the fraction which had undergone the capture process. The vertical and horizontal patterns of capture and fission probability have been determined. The variation of η in the reactor has been plotted, assuming that remains constant.
