Westinghouse Bankruptcy

The US Nuclear industry was about to experience a renaissance with a new safe passively cooled Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design.  All US nuclear reactors are the inherently unsafe GE Mark I built from the 1950-70’s.  The last US reactors where that Watts Bar and River Bend reactors started in the 1970’s and completed in the 1990’s.  Westinghouse got approval for 4 new reactors to be built in South Carolina and Georgia Plant.  Only several years into the job, the jobs were already over budget resulting in Westinghouse bankruptcy and the cancelation of the South Carolina reactors at VC Summer.  The plant Vogtle reactors are still under construction but some say only a few years away from cancellation as well. 

I am trying to understand with the issues behind the failures of this project.  This is a monumental failure with significant long-term economic impact on the US.  I don’t think I’ve heard much in the media about this issue. 

https://www.enr.com/articles/43325-witness-to-the-origins-of-a-huge-nuclear-construction-flop

Christopher Hartz says the problem was with Shaw Nuclear Service having an inefficient process to make design changes.  Shaw Neclear Services is located in Lake Charles, LA and had to send changes to offices in Charlotte and Pittsburg. The NRC regulators were not located in Lake Charles and getting changes approved required sending plans to outside offices for approval. 

One of the issues in making sense of this is understanding all the subsidiary companies:

1. Shaw Nuclear Services

2. Shaw Modular Solutions

3. Stone and Webster

4. Chicago Bridge and Iron 

4. Westinghouse

5. Toshiba

6. Southern Company

7. Souhern Nuclear

8. Fluor

9. Bechtel

I am a bit suspicious of Christopher Hartz, a safety officer, and the NRC who might have purposely torpedoed the US nuclear industry. From what I understand, Westinghouse had initial approval for its reactor design but the NRC changed requirements requiring Shaw to change design and manufacturing midstream. This change in requirements I think created the problems with getting design and process changes approved.  Shaw and Westinghouse found it impossible to get plan modifications approved and signed off by PE’s.  Also Hartz was making a big issue about  Shaw not having inferior “nuclear welds”. 

Shaw Modular Solutions and Westinghouse were trying to set up a pre-fab operation where sections of the reactors were constructed in LA and then shipped to SC and GA for instillation. If the process had worked out, Shaw would be set up to build another 150+ reactors. Bechtel is now completing work on Plant Vogtle units 3 and 4 in Georgia. 

https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN17Y0CQ