New nuclear power has been receiving quite a bit of press lately especially since Obama has promised loan guarantees to a new facility. The talk of the new nuke plants reminds me of a coworker who passed away a few years back. He was involved in the construction of several plants back when the NRC actually allowed new plants to be built. I always enjoyed listening to his stories of the “good ole days” and what was involved in the construction.
The question I have after reading these recent articles is who will build these new plants? After 30 years of basically no new plants, the knowledge and expertise has been lost to retirement and/or death. The learning curve is going to be back at square one if several new construction projects start. I have confidence that they will be able to build them, but the tips and tricks of the trade to increase productivity will be gone resulting in higher construction costs. Even the few guys left will have to dig deep into their long term memory to remember what they had done. I hope the answer does not involve bringing the expertise from other countries that have been building these plants. I am looking forward to seeing new nuclear plants being built to help supply our nation’s energy needs. I think it is about time the government starts promoting nuclear power again!
One Comment
Part of the answer is that the existing plants have required maintenance and upgrades for the past three decades, so there is significant experience on these sorts of jobs among American contractors and subcontractors. But no matter what, the money will go to a mix of US and foreign companies. The recent construction expertise has to have been gained overseas, so you have to think that even if American multinationals get the contracts, they will end up partnering on some level with foreign-based. On the other hand, I believe Areva, from France, has already won some contracts for the next round of expansion, but of course they will end up using American subcontractors to perform a lot of the work.