Most solid wastes from Southern Company are byproducts of electricity generation.

Coal Ash and Gypsum

After combustion of coal and other fuels, some solid byproducts remain. In coal-fueled plants, for example, up to 10 percent of the coal volume remains as ash after combustion. More about ash »

Some of these solids have beneficial uses in products. To reduce the volume of solid waste at our plants, we're making safe use of coal ash in concrete, cement, and highway construction. The remaining solids are managed on plant sites or are collected and removed to designated off-site landfills.

We also produce gypsum, a reusable byproduct, from scrubbers that remove sulfur dioxide from plants. Southern Company currently supplies this gypsum to several manufacturers of wallboard and commercial cement companies. We're also growing agricultural sales for gypsum, expected to recycle an additional 50,000 tons in 2009.

Nuclear Waste

Nuclear power plants produce two levels of radioactive waste. Nearly all high-level waste is used fuel. Low-level waste includes such things as protective clothing, tools, and equipment that may contain small amounts of radioactive material. Low-level waste can be shipped to a licensed disposal facility or stored at the plant.

Used fuel is handled by remote control and safely stored inside the most highly secured area of the plant in steel-lined, concrete pools filled with water or on the plant property in steel-lined, concrete containers. Used fuel accumulates at a much lower volume than many people imagine. A thimble-sized nuclear fuel pellet produces the equivalent energy of one ton of coal. An average nuclear plant unit retires about 20 tons of fuel each year which, in volume, could fit in a small room.

Alabama Power and Georgia Power have contracts with the Department of Energy for the permanent disposal of used fuel. The Department of Energy failed to begin disposing of used fuel in 1998 as required by the contracts. Until the contract is fulfilled, used fuel continues to be stored safely on-site, as prescribed in operating licenses.

Southern Company operates three nuclear power plants, Vogtle, Farley, and Hatch. Sufficient pool storage capacity for used fuel is available at Plant Vogtle into 2014, with an on-site dry storage facility to be completed in time to maintain normal fueling operations. At plants Hatch and Farley, on-site dry storage facilities are being used to house spent fuel once it reaches a lower level of radioactivity and can be expanded to accommodate used fuel through the life of each plant. The casks are constructed of steel-reinforced concrete, proven to safely protect the fuel under extreme conditions such as earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, floods, and explosions.

Hazardous Waste

Byproducts of industrial processes and discarded commercial products, like cleaning fluids or pesticides, make up most hazardous waste. Southern Company has reduced hazardous waste generation in routine electric utility work by employing simple measures like replacing hazardous materials with safer options such as non-chlorinated cleaners and water-based paints.

Exceptional projects, especially those involving new construction, can add to hazardous waste generation. In 2008, hazardous waste increased as we built scrubbers at several plants. Total hazardous waste amounts will decrease when scrubber construction is completed.

Insulating Oil

Substations and other facilities have electrical equipment that contains oil for its insulation properties. These facilities have procedures in place to prevent oil spills. Spill prevention, control, and countermeasures are built into new substations and are being retrofitted on existing facilities. After evaluating almost 2,800 substations, Southern Company identified more than 500 requiring retrofits. More than 170 retrofits are complete; the remainder are expected to be completed within five years.

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