Georgia Power announced it has begun fueling the nuclear reactor core of its Vogtle Unit 3 reactor in Georgia, a major step toward commissioning the country’s first newly built nuclear reactor in more than 30 years.
The announcement puts the Unit 3 reactor on track for commissioning in the first quarter of 2023. Unit Four is expected to pass about six months later, by the end of 2023.
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The announcement comes after the plant’s operators, Southern Nuclear, were given the green light to go ahead with the National Regulatory Commission’s fuel load in August.
During fuel loading, nuclear technicians and operators assemble 157 fuel assemblies one by one from the Unit 3 spent fuel pool to the Unit 3 reactor core, operators said.
Once this operation is complete, Vogtle’s Unit 3 reactor will undergo start-up tests to demonstrate the plant’s transition from shutdown mode to full capacity.
Georgia Power CEO Chris Womack hailed the initiation of the procedure as an “important step” for Plant Vogtle and said it demonstrated “steady and evident progress at the nuclear expansion site. “
“These sets are for long-term energy construction and will serve as clean, emission-free energy resources for Georgians for the next 60 to 80 years,” he said.
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Vogtle’s Unit 3 and Unit 4 reactors are the first to be built in the United States in 3 decades. Construction began in 2013, but since then the task has faced a series of costly setbacks, putting the corporate app over budget and months, if not years, of its original schedule.
Georgia Power estimates that once operational, the new Unit 3 and four reactors will power more than 500,000 homes and businesses.