Natural Draft Cooling Towers for New Nuclear Units in the United States

• Autores: Kelly Scott, Quac Huong Tran
• Localización: Journal of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures, ISSN-e 1996-9015, ISSN 1028-365X, Vol. 57, Nº. 1, 2016 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Special Issue on Cooling Towers), págs. 91-96
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen

  • Recently, for the first time in over 30 years, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the construction of new nuclear units in the United States. Two of the four new units that have been issued combined construction and operation licenses are located at Southern Nuclear's Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Waynesboro, Georgia. These two units at Plant Vogtle each require a hyperbolic natural draft cooling tower. As a background for the current environment, this paper will briefly summarize the history of American nuclear power plant construction up to the recent award of new nuclear units. The paper will then specifically focus on the design process and construction methods used for the new Plant Vogtle natural draft cooling towers including up to date status of the construction progress and remaining activities to be completed.