Southern Nuclear

Southern Nuclear, a subsidiary of Southern Company and operator of more than 8.2 GW of nuclear power capacity, said it has completed the installation of lead test assemblies with additively manufactured debris-filtering bottom nozzles (AMBN) at Alabama Power’s Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant. The AMBN assemblies are a new technology manufactured by Westinghouse Electric Co. […]

The U.S. nuclear power industry has an ally with a unique platform to spread the sector’s message of providing reliable, clean electricity. Meet Grace Stanke. She’s not just a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison working on the final stages of a degree in nuclear engineering. She is also Miss America 2023. “A lot of […]

Startup of the first of two new reactors at the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia is being pushed back to at least April, one month after officials with Georgia Power had planned to start generating electricity from the unit. Georgia Power, part of Atlanta-based Southern Co., announced the latest setback for the oft-delayed two-unit expansion […]

Southern Co. CEO Tom Fanning said the group continues to stick to its most-recent timeline for startup of the two-unit expansion of the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia, telling participants in the company’s first-quarter 2022 earnings call that construction is pacing well, with fuel load for Unit 3 expected later this year.   “Importantly, the […]

In another significant boost to commercial deployment of accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) at existing nuclear reactors, the first 18-month fuel cycle test of Framatome’s GAIA Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuel (EATF) at Southern Co.’s Vogtle 2 has “demonstrated expected results and excellent performance,” Framatome said on Feb. 2. Southern Nuclear installed four GAIA lead fuel assemblies (LFAs) […]

Georgia Power said it still expects to meet a state regulatory deadline for commercial operation of the first of two new reactors at its Vogtle nuclear plant expansion. The utility, though, on Oct. 22 acknowledged it has pushed back some aspects of the project, including delaying the loading of nuclear fuel for the first reactor […]

Southern Co. says it remains on schedule to complete Units 3 and 4 of the Vogtle nuclear expansion project by November 2021 and November 2022, respectively, despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company in its 2020 second-quarter earnings report on July 30 said issues associated with the coronavirus have increased subsidiary Georgia Power’s […]

An official monitoring the progress of the Vogtle nuclear expansion project in Georgia said in testimony filed June 5 with the state’s Public Service Commission that the two new reactors are “highly unlikely” to meet state-approved deadlines, and also will probably have additional cost overruns. The expansion project involves construction of two, 1,100-MW AP1000 reactors […]

More states are setting targets for renewable energy. Cities and counties are joining in. Utilities are formalizing commitments. And economics, as always, play a major role. The transition to clean energy

GSE Systems said it has delivered and commissioned three additional full-scope simulators for Southern Nuclear’s new Operations Training Centers. The simulators are for the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, and the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant. Simulators provide efficient hands-on learning for power plant operators. While power plants of […]

The world’s nuclear sector is struggling to stay economically afloat amid a deluge of renewables and natural gas power, and reinvigorating it will require operational flexibility from new or existing

The world’s first complete advanced nuclear fuel test assemblies containing accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) have been installed at Southern Co.’s Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant’s Unit 2 in Georgia.  Nuclear giant Framatome delivered four GAIA lead fuel assemblies containing enhanced ATF (EATF), including both pellets and cladding, to the plant owned by Georgia Power in […]

The two-unit Vogtle expansion in Georgia faces major challenges that are poised to derail its schedule and ramp up costs—and the project is already behind schedule, a consulting firm tasked with construction oversight of the project told regulators. In revealing testimony filed with the Georgia Public Service Commission’s (PSC’s) public interest advocacy staff on November […]

Owners of the beleaguered Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project have voted—at least for now—to continue construction of two new AP1000 reactors at the site near Waynesboro, Georgia. Directors of the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power) and Oglethorpe Power on September 24 each agreed the oft-delayed and increasingly over-budget project should move forward, although […]

On August 8, Georgia Power announced that its revised capital and construction cost forecast for its share of the Plant Vogtle expansion project had increased from $7.3 billion to $8.4 billion, based on a revised cost-to-complete estimate from Southern Nuclear. The news was softened somewhat by Georgia Power’s declaration that significant construction progress had been […]

The world’s first AP1000 nuclear reactor—Sanmen 1 in China’s Zhejiang province—commenced 100%  power operation for the first time on August 11, China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) said. Sanmen 1 was connected to the grid on June 30. Earlier this year, China also put online Unit 5 of the Yangjiang Nuclear Plant on May 23, and Taishan 1, an EPR, on […]

Hearings on the future of the Vogtle nuclear expansion project are underway in Atlanta, Georgia, and events of the past few days could impact how quickly the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) and Georgia Power reach a decision on whether construction of two new nuclear reactors continues or is halted. This week’s hearings, which are […]

Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in a statement that the “future of nuclear energy in the United States is bright” as his agency on September 29 announced another $3.7 billion in loan guarantees for continued construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle in Georgia. The Department of Energy (DOE) has guaranteed another $1.67 […]

Westinghouse Electric has asked a New York bankruptcy court to stop Georgia Power from terminating Westinghouse’s contract to continue construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Georgia. Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, in large part due to massive cost overruns from the Vogtle project and the V.C. Summer nuclear […]

GE-HItachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and Southern Nuclear Energy will collaborate to study the development and licensing of GEH’s PRISM sodium-cooled fast reactor design. Southern Nuclear Development, a subsidiary of Southern Co. company Southern Nuclear Operating Co. signed a memorandum of understanding to study the high-energy neutron reactor design, as well as to work together toward […]

GREENBELT, Md., Aug. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — X Energy, LLC (X-energy) and a subsidiary of Southern Nuclear Operating Company (Southern Nuclear) have entered into a memorandum of understanding as a step toward commercializing and deploying X-energy’s High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR): the Xe-100. The Xe-100 reactor series will produce zero-emission energy around the clock to […]