Watch: Work on Georgia Nuclear Plant Expansion Reaches Key Milestones
Nuclear grade concrete basemat is poured for Georgia plant expansion.
Southern Company has released a video update at the Vogtle site where two new AP1000 nuclear plants are under construction. This quarterly update covers the major milestones that have been achieved in the last few months.
An expansion of the Plant Vogtle site in Georgia has accomplished several major construction milestones, according to Southern Company's recent video update on the project. This article offers an in-depth view of the project's progress, including the placement of nuclear grade concrete for the first nuclear island on Vogtle Unit 3.
From high above the site of the rebirth of nuclear energy in America, Georgia Power's Plant Vogtle project is now one-third complete.
And major milestones continue to be reached here beginning with the placement of the first nuclear island concrete on Unit 3 to create the six-foot-thick basemat. This is the foundation for the nuclear island which includes the containment and auxiliary buildings.
The placement of this basemat concrete is very significant because it precedes the setting of major components inside the nuclear island.
The basemat covers eleven hundred tons of steel rebar. It requires 6,850 yards of concrete to cover this area 254 feet long, and 161 feet across at its widest section.
This is not just any concrete. It's nuclear grade concrete, which means that it has passed rigorous methods of qualifying and manufacturing. It's specially designed, mixed, reinforced and constructed according to strict procedures. It requires a trained workforce with special certifications to perform this activity.
The planning for this process was so stringent that a mock site was built to simulate this concrete placement before it actually took place. Months of planning and detailed preparation were keys to the success of this significant event.
Source: nuclearstreet.com