Building New Plants

By 2030, electrical demand is projected to increase 27 percent in the Southeast. Additionally, current and pending legislation and environmental standards are impacting electricity generation fueled by coal. We're planning the future of electricity generation that can maintain reliable and affordable supplies of electricity in the Southeast. Building new generating plants will be essential to meeting this goal.

The most cost-effective, reliable and environmentally responsible fuel source today, for mass or baseload generation of electricity, is nuclear. Nuclear energy is a proven technology that produces no greenhouse gas emissions and can relieve cost uncertainty caused by coal and natural gas prices.

Southern Company already operates three nuclear plants: Hatch, Farley and Vogtle, each with multiple generating units. Plant Vogtle was constructed with the option to expand. Today, Vogtle Units 3 and 4 are moving through the licensing process and initial construction phases. Vogtle Units 3 and 4 will be among the first new nuclear units built in the U.S. in the last three decades.

Vogtle units are owned by:

• Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power (45.7%)
• Oglethorpe Power Corporation (30%)
• Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (22.7%)
• Dalton Utilities (1.6%)

Other stakeholders include:

• NuStart
  Southern Company is a founding member of NuStart Energy Development, a nuclear technology energy consortium comprising power generation companies and reactor vendors. The group is pursuing a new combined construction and operating license process and advancing new nuclear technologies. NuStart's goal is to demonstrate the Nuclear Regulatory commission's new, streamlined licensing procees. Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4 are NuStart's reference plant for AP1000 technology.
• NEI
  The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) is the policy organization of the nuclear energy and technologies industry and participates in both the national and global policy-making process. NEI's objective is to ensure the formation of policies that promote the beneficial uses of nuclear energy and technologies in the United States and around the world.
• NRC
  The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was created as an independent agency by Congress in 1974 to enable the nation to safely use radioactive materials for beneficial civilian purposes while ensuring that people and the environment are protected. The NRC regulates commercial nuclear power plants and other uses of nuclear materials, such as in nuclear medicine, through licensing, inspection and enforcement of its requirements.
• Westinghouse
  Southern Company has selected the light-water Westinghouse AP1000 technology for the proposed units at Plant Vogtle. More than 40 new nuclear plants are under construction in 12 countries around the world -- almost all using light-water reactor technology.
• Shaw
  Shaw was chosen to manage the design and construction of Plant Vogtle's new units. Shaw is also a member of the AP1000 Consortium with Westinghouse. Shaw provides services to 95 percent of all U.S. nuclear plants, and offers a wide range of nuclear services to commercial and government clients worldwide.
• DOE
  The Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy program promotes secure, competitive and environmentally responsible nuclear technologies to serve the present and future energy needs of the United States and the world.
• EPRI
  The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is an independent, non-profit company performing research, development and design in the electricity sector for the benefit of the public.
• INPO
  The Institute of Nuclear Power Operations works to help the nuclear power industry achieve the highest levels of safety and reliability – excellence – through plant evaluations, training and accreditation, events analysis and information exchange.
• ANS
  The American Nuclear Society is a not-for-profit international, scientific and educational organization. It was established by a group of individuals who recognized the need to unify professional activities within the diverse fields of nuclear science and technology.
• CASEnergy Coalition
  The Clean and Safe Energy Coalition is a large, grassroots organization that unites unlikely allies across the business, environmental, academic, consumer and labor community to support nuclear energy.