Progress continues at Vogtle nuclear expansion

The Vogtle 3 and 4 nuclear expansion project continues to progress with multiple milestones achieved over the past 30 days. Major recent construction achievements include the placement of 200 cubic yards of concrete to fill the walls of new shield building panels for Unit 3; placement of more than 1,800 cubic yards of concrete to fill the walls of the CA20 module; installation of component cooling water pumps on the Unit 3 turbine building; placement of concrete for the elevated roof slab on the southwest corner of the Unit 4 turbine building and the completion of vertical seam welds on placed shield building panels for Unit 3.

The heavy lift derrick moves the upper condenser shell and places it in the Unit 4 turbine building.

Now more than 60 percent complete based on contractual milestones, workers complete hundreds of activities at the site each day. The company has posted several new videos on the Georgia Power YouTube Channel  including a time lapse video of the placement of the Condenser C Upper Shell for Unit 4, with new photos now available in the Vogtle 3 & 4 Photo Gallery.

Expanding Plant Vogtle is part of Georgia Power’s long-term, strategic plan for providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable energy to meet the growing energy needs of Georgia. The Vogtle expansion is the largest construction project in Georgia with more than 5,000 workers onsite today and 800 permanent future jobs. When the new units join the existing two units already in operation, Plant Vogtle is expected to generate more electricity than any other U.S. nuclear facility, enough to power more than one million homes and businesses.

The projected overall peak rate impact of the Vogtle nuclear expansion continues to be significantly less than when the project was originally certified due to lower financing rates and other benefits the company has proactively pursued, and the fuel savings of nuclear. The project’s remaining projected customer rate impact is still approximately 2.5 percent, an average of less than 1 percent per year through the expected completion dates of June 2019 for Unit 3 and June 2020 for Unit 4. Once the new units come online, they are expected to put downward pressure on rates and deliver long-term savings for Georgia customers.