October 23 - An 81.6-tonne CA05 module has been installed at unit 3 of the Plant Vogtle nuclear power station in Burke County, near Waynesborough, Georgia.
The CA05 structural module is housed within the unit 3 containment building and is comprised of reinforced steel plates that will be filled with concrete to provide structural support for the containment building.
Plant Vogtle (or the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant) is jointly owned by Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and Dalton Utilities.
Construction of the two-unit plant began in 1974, and two additional power units are expected to enter service in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
This year has also seen the installation of a 417-tonne CR10 module (or cradle) at unit 4, placement of the 997-tonne CA20 module at unit 3, and the successful lowering of the 816-tonne containment vessel bottom head (CVBH) into unit 4.
Most recently, the project team placed the 15.2 m high, and 861-tonne lower ring on top of unit 3's CVBH, which Georgia Power claims was one of the largest lifts of the project.
The modules are lifted using one of Bigge Crane's 7,500-tonne capacity super cranes - the Bigge125D - which was purchased by the Shaw Group in 2012, and is now called the Shaw HLD (heavy lift derrick) 125.
Southern Nuclear, a subsidiary of Southern Company, is overseeing construction and will operate the two new 1,100 MW units for Georgia Power and its co-owners.
One of the plant's larger lifts.
