Vogtle Unit 3 Receives Important NRC Finding

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August 4, 2022--Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The owners of Unit 3 at the Alvin W. Vogtle Nuclear Power Station shared some good news Wednesday: receipt of a finding from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) (Rockville, Maryland) that the 1,117-megawatt Unit 3 "has been constructed and will be operated in conformance with the Combined License and NRC regulations. No further NRC findings are necessary in order for Southern Nuclear to load fuel or begin the startup sequence for the new unit," principal owner Georgia Power (Atlanta, Georgia) said in a statement.

Georgia Power, a unit of Southern Company (NYSE:SO) (Atlanta, Georgia), owns 45.7% of Unit 3 and Unit 4; the NRC notification did not address Unit 4. Unit 3's other owners are: Oglethorpe Power Corporation (Tucker, Georgia), which owns 30% of that unit; the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG) (Atlanta), which owns 22.7% of Unit 3; and City of Dalton Utilities (Dalton, Georgia), which owns 1.6% of the unit addition.

The NRC's notification was called a 103(g) finding.

"Today's finding by the NRC helps ensure we have met our commitment to building Vogtle 3 & 4 with the highest safety and quality standards," said Chris Womack, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Georgia Power, in a statement. "These new units remain a strong long-term investment for this state, and, once operating, are expected to provide customers with a reliable and resilient, clean, emission-free source of energy for the next 60 to 80 years. That's why we've been so committed to getting this project done right--it's about serving our customers today and for decades to come."

Georgia Power said it expects to load nuclear fuel into Unit 3 "over the next several weeks." That will be followed by "several months" of startup testing and operations. Unit 3 is scheduled to achieve commercial operations in early 2023.

The Atlanta-based utility's statement continued: "The issuance of the 103(g) finding follows years of diligent and careful work by the team at the site to submit documentation that Unit 3 has satisfied 398 required inspections, tests, analyses and acceptance criteria (ITAACs) as outlined in Southern Nuclear's Combined License -- helping ensure the unit meets strict nuclear safety and quality standards. This process was completed on July 29, and the NRC conducted a thorough review process of each submission and targeted inspections of the facility before issuing the 103(g) finding. As required by the NRC, each ITAAC had to be verified before fuel load and operations."

The additions of two 1,117-MW units at the Vogtle station is years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget. For more on that, see June 22, 2022, article - Two Co-Owners of Vogtle Nuclear Additions Sue Over Cost Overruns; and January 27, 2022, article - New Estimate for Vogtle Unit Additions: $32 Billion to $34 Billion. The NRC notification did not discuss Unit 4, which currently is scheduled to start generating electricity late next year.

"The NRC's 103(g) notification is an important milestone for Vogtle Unit 3," commented Brock Ramey, Industrial Info's North American Power Specialist. "It was the first new-build nuclear power plant, built using a new reactor technology, in over 30 years. The owners persevered through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy and withdrawal of the project's original engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm, Westinghouse Electric Company (Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania), the COVID-19 pandemic, shortage of skilled craft labor, unrelenting hostility from its opponents and some occasional doubt from its regulators at the Georgia Public Service Commission (Atlanta, Georgia)."

"It's too soon to proclaim victory, but the NRC's 103(g) finding is a significant milestone," Ramey added.

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