The three nuclear construction projects underway in the U.S. are already suffering huge cost overruns, delays, and uncertainty about completion. A fourth project – though not yet licensed – has seen its price estimate quadruple.

Even though the Vogtle reactor project got its federal license just three months ago, the controversial nuclear reactors are already in trouble. The latest problem: A cost overrun of nearly $1 billion in 2011 dollars, according to groups that warned in February that the Vogtle expansion effort is a boondoggle that could hurt ratepayers and (depending on the status of a pending Solyndra-style federal loan guarantee) U.S. taxpayers.

A higher price tag for a nuclear project – The New York Times, May 11, 2012
Vogtle nuclear project facing $900 million in cost overruns – NPR Atlanta, May 11, 2012

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Southern Company presses NRC for expedited license amendment to avoid further slippage at Vogtle, construction of “nuclear island” not yet underway.

This is big. The $8.3 Billion taxpayer loan for construction of two new reactors at the Vogtle site in Georgia, the centerpiece of the Obama Administration’s support for the “nuclear renaissance,” may be blocked–by the Obama Administration.

Attorney General Roy Cooper said Wednesday he will appeal the 7 percent N.C. rate hike Duke Energy won in January.

This Friday, the NRC is expected to approve a Construction and Operating License for two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors at the VC Summer nuclear plant in South Carolina. The project, being developed by South Carolina Electric & Gas, is likely to hinge on Duke Energy and/or Progress Energy buying into it after a COL is issued.

Progress Energy can congratulate itself for skirting major controversy at its three nuclear plants in the Carolinas in recent years. But 700 miles south of here, the Raleigh-based utility’s nuclear plant in Florida is experiencing one of the most exorbitant and bewildering mishaps in the history of the nation’s nuclear industry.

Who gets soaked? Taxpayer loan guarantees pending as contractors begin feeding frenzy on cost overruns due to long-standing and new design problems.

Strata Solar plans 15 industrial-scale solar farms for completion this year – including three in Wake and Chatham counties – each with a power capacity of about 5 megawatts. Strata Solar executives are closing in on a deal that would be the state’s biggest solar farm, at about 20 megawatts.

Industry group spreading falsehoods about viability of controversial nuclear project.

A second U.S. nuclear power construction project is expected to receive a license within weeks, but a new document shows that the majority owner and contractors are arguing over who should pay the extra costs of at least 11 changes totaling over $380 million for two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors.

With more than 15 times the Solyndra loan guarantee on the line, U.S. taxpayers being kept in the dark about huge Vogtle risks; nine groups cite NRC law violation in going to court to block Vogtle licensing.

Listen to Jim Warren’s comments during a short audio clip from Atlanta public radio.
US groups file suit to block new Southern Vogtle reactors – Reuters
Groups sue to stop Vogtle expansion project – Atlanta Journal Constitution
Motion to stop Vogtle construction – with Dr. Makhijani’s analysis

Thirty-seven clean energy groups today submitted a formal petition for rulemaking to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission seeking adoption of new regulations to expand emergency evacuation zones and improve emergency response planning around U.S. nuclear reactors.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the nation’s first nuclear power plant in a generation on Thursday, clearing the way for Atlanta-based Southern Co. to build two reactors at its Plant Vogtle site near Augusta.

9 Groups Contend That NRC Is Failing to Fully Consider Fukushima Lessons Before Issuing a Final License to Construct and Operate Two New Nuclear Reactors