Plant Vogtle

The Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, located near Waynesboro in eastern Georgia near the South Carolina border, is jointly owned by Georgia Power (45.7%), Oglethorpe Power Corporation (30%), Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (22.7%) and the City of Dalton (1.6%).

Plant Vogtle is one of Georgia Power's two nuclear facilities and is one of three nuclear facilities in the Southern Company system.

Unit 1 began commercial operation in May 1987. Unit 2 began commercial operation in May 1989. Each unit is capable of generating 1,215 megawatts (Mw) for a total capacity of 2,430 Mw. The plant is powered by pressurized water reactors (PWR) manufactured by Westinghouse. The turbines and electric generators are manufactured by General Electric.

The containment building, which houses the reactor, reactor coolant system and other nuclear-related components, is constructed of reinforced concrete and carbon steel.

News about the plant

In 2000, Unit 2 established a new unit generation record of 10,337,818 mwh. The previous record for the unit was 10,310,828 established in 1997.
Unit 2's year end capacity factor set a new record for the plant at 102.4%, surpassing the old record of 101.2% set in 1997. Capacity factor is a unit's actual output of electricity as a percentage of its maximum potential output.
Plant Vogtle received the Westinghouse "American Beauty" award for the 7th consecutive year. The award is given by Westinghouse for those nuclear plants whose cost and performance set the standard of excellence.
In 1999, Plant Vogtle achieved its highest ever generation for a two-refueling-outage year - 18,448,487 mwh, which marks the plant's fourth highest generation ever. It achieved its highest capacity factor ever for a two-outage year - 91.4 percent, which is the plant's third highest capacity factor ever.
Unit 1 established a unit record for a single year net generation in 1998 with 10,178,118 mwh. The previous record for Unit 1 was 9,983,960 mwh, set in 1995. The total net generation for both units in 1998 was 18,549,806 mwh, enough electricity to meet every residential, commercial and industrial electricity user's needs in the Augusta, Georgia, area for approximately 4 years.
In 1998, Unit 1 set a new unit capacity factor record of 100.37 percent. Capacity factor is a unit's actual output of electricity as a percentage of its maximum potential output.
In 1999, Unit 1 achieved its highest ever generation for an outage year - 9,425,856 mwh, which is that unit's third highest generation ever. The unit also marked its highest capacity factor for an outage year, 93.5 percent, its fourth highest ever. The unit also had the company's shortest ever refueling outage of 26 days.
Plant Vogtle has been certified by The Wildlife Habitat Council since 1993 for wildlife enhancement and conservation efforts.
According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, Plant Vogtle had the fifth-lowest cost in the United States with 1.33 cents/kwh.