Commission Approves Vogtle Nuclear Plant Construction

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the first nuclear reactor construction permit in almost 35 years. In a 4-to-1 vote, the commission's chairman, Greg Jaczko, was the lone dissenter.

"I cannot support issuing this license as if Fukushima never happened," Jaczko said after the vote at the commission's headquarters in Rockville, Md. Jaczko had asked Southern (the plant's owner) to agree to implement planned Fukushima safety enhancements before the plant began operations. Southern Company refused.

The approval means that Southern Company can proceed with its plans to add two new reactors at the Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant site in Georgia, located approximatedly 143 miles southeast of Atlanta. The US$14 billion expansion could be commissioned as early as 2016.

Photo shows site work at Vogtle. Courtesy of Southern Company.