King: Pilgrims seek spiritual fire

Joan_Kingby Joan King
GAINESVILLE 12/16/14 — The Public Service Commission meets today for a semiannual review. I’ll be there. I’m anxious to see what the commissioners have to say about cost overruns at Plant Vogtle, Georgia Power’s nuclear facility near Waynesboro.

Last week, The Times published a front-page story warning that the new construction is over budget and behind schedule. No surprises there. Vogtle’s two original reactors took 20 years to complete and were 1,200 percent over budget by the time they went online.

What is different and interesting is the language used in the latest progress report. Two state regulators, William Jacobs, a nuclear engineer, and Steven Roetger, a financial analyst, said Georgia Power’s lack of a proper production schedule, “…runs counter to any prudent project management, nuclear or otherwise.” Remember that word “prudent.” It may be the key to mothballing the project.

Read the whole article: Gainesville Times

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