The two boiling water reactors at Georgia Power's Edwin I. Hatch nuclear plant have received Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval for a second license renewal, clearing the units to run until the mid-2050s. Hatch Unit 1 began commercial operation in December 1975 and Unit 2 followed in September 1979, making the plant the first nuclear facility built in Georgia. The units were originally licensed for 40 years, and the NRC approved an initial 20 year extension in 2002.

Unit 1 is now licensed to operate until August 2054 and Unit 2 until June 2058, extending the plant's operating life to roughly 80 years. The NRC completed its review of the renewal application in less than 12 months, one of two nuclear plant license renewals the agency has finished within a 12 month target tied to a 2025 executive order on reactor licensing. The other was Duke Energy's Robinson plant in South Carolina.

Hatch is operated by Southern Company subsidiary Southern Nuclear on behalf of co-owners Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and Dalton Utilities. Over the past two decades the plant has undergone cooling tower replacement, transformer and feedwater heater upgrades, and construction of a second onsite simulator used to train reactor operators. Georgia Power says the plant supports hundreds of long term jobs and pays millions of dollars in property taxes annually.

Together, Hatch and the four unit Vogtle plant supply close to 30 percent of Georgia Power's total energy production. Georgia Power's most recent integrated resource plan, approved by state regulators in 2025, includes proposed capacity uprates at units within both plants as the utility works to meet rising electricity demand across the state.

Source: World Nuclear News - https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/georgia-nuclear-power-plant-cleared-for-80-year-operating-life