Approximately 6,000 people will work up to 25 million hours to build the new units, STP 3&4, which are located about 100 miles southwest of Houston in Matagorda County, Texas.
The construction of the new units is expected to begin in 2012, once the expansion receives its combined license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and should last five years with unit 3 coming online in 2016 and unit 4 in 2017.
Steve Winn, CEO of NINA, said: “New nuclear construction at STP will be an integral part of the American nuclear renaissance and rebuilding the nation’s energy infrastructure. Clean reliable nuclear energy is key to meeting the environmental challenges we face as well as reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign energy.
“To ensure we can achieve these important goals and can build STP 3&4 and the many new nuclear units to follow, it is critical that we have a skilled pool of American workers. This agreement and the skilled labor it represents will help make that possible.”
A 2010 economic study conducted by The Perryman Group, a Texas economic and financial analysis firm, estimates construction of STP 3&4 will generate more than $15bn in business activity in America as well as $3.6bn in spending and $600m in local and state revenues annually once the two units are operational.
The new units will not emit any greenhouse gases, avoiding emissions of almost 22 million tons of carbon dioxide as well as thousands of tons of sulfur, nitrogen and other emissions every year when compared with traditional fossil-fueled plants, NINA said.
The STP expansion will use Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) technology.
