Georgia Power operates two nuclear facilities, Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro and Plant Hatch, which together provide about 29 percent of the electricity used in Georgia. Southern Nuclear, a sister company owned by Southern Company that specializes in nuclear operations, manages both plants.
Plant Vogtle holds four units. Units 1 and 2 entered commercial operation on June 1, 1987, and May 20, 1989. Units 3 and 4 followed on July 31, 2023, and April 29, 2024. Georgia Power describes Units 3 and 4 as the first newly constructed nuclear units built in the United States in more than 30 years and expects them to serve Georgians for the next 60 to 80 years. Plant Hatch has two units that began commercial operation in December 1975 and September 1979.
Georgia Power points to the dispatchable nature of nuclear generation. Its units can run at full output around the clock, produce more than twice as much as solar and wind resources, require fewer maintenance outages than coal or gas plants, and see nuclear fuel costs fluctuate less often than other fuel sources.
Oversight comes from several agencies. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses and regulates nuclear facilities and keeps resident inspectors on duty at each plant. The Georgia Public Service Commission oversees the operations of all Georgia Power generating plants as they relate to the costs and expenses allowed into the rate base charged to Georgia residents.
Fuel at both plants is manufactured from uranium enriched in uranium-235. Enrichment raises the share of that isotope from about 0.7 percent of uranium mass to about 5 percent. Both plants store used fuel in dry storage facilities.
Source: Georgia Power - https://www.georgiapower.com/about/energy/sources/nuclear.html