Vogtle Electric Generating Plant

The Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, also known as Plant Vogtle (), is a four-unit nuclear power plant located in Burke County, near Waynesboro, Georgia, in the southeastern United States. With a power capacity of 4,536 megawatts, it is the largest nuclear power plant (as of 2013), the largest source of low-carbon electricity, and largest power station overall in the United States. It is also the only nuclear plant in the country with four units. It is named after a former Alabama Power and Southern Company board chairman, Alvin Vogtle.

The first two units are Westinghouse pressurized water reactors (PWR), with a General Electric steam turbine and electric generator. Units 1 and 2 were completed in 1987 and 1989, respectively, and have a gross electricity generation capacity of 1,215 MW, for a combined capacity of 2,430 MW. The twin natural-draft cooling towers are tall and provide cooling to the plant's main condensers. Four smaller mechanical draft cooling towers provide nuclear service cooling water (NSCW) to safety and auxiliary non-safety components, as well as remove the decay heat from the reactor when the plant is offline. One natural-draft tower and two NSCW towers serve each unit. In 2009, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) renewed the licenses for both units for an additional 20 years to January 16, 2047 for Unit 1, and September 2, 2049 for Unit 2. During the construction of Vogtle's first two units, capital investment required jumped from an estimated $660 million to $8.87 billion. ($}} in dollars)

Two additional units utilizing Westinghouse AP1000 reactors began preliminary construction in 2009, with Unit 3 being completed in July 2023. Natural-draft type cooling towers were also selected, and the two new cooling towers are nearly tall. During construction, the units suffered several delays and cost overruns. The certified construction and capital costs for these two new units were originally $14 billion, according to the Seventeenth Semi-annual Vogtle Construction Monitoring Report in 2017. This last report blames the latest increase in costs on the contractor not completing work as scheduled. Another complicating factor in the construction process is the bankruptcy of Westinghouse in 2017. In 2018 costs were estimated to be about $25 billion. By 2021 they were estimated to be over $28.5 billion. In 2023 costs had increased to $34 billion, with work still to be completed on Vogtle 4.

Unit 3 began commercial operations on July 31, 2023, becoming the first new nuclear reactor in the United States in 7 years. Unit 4 entered commercial operation on April 29, 2024. Provided by Wikipedia