The US Energy and Information Administration reports:
MAY 1, 2024
The Vogtle Unit 4 plant begins commercial operations
Data Source: US Energy Information Administration, Annual Electric Generator Report
Georgia Power announced this week that the 1,114 megawatt (MW) Unit 4 nuclear reactor at the Vogtle Power Plant near Waynesboro, Georgia, began commercial operations after being connected to the grid in March 2024. Annual expansion project at the Vogtle plant. There are currently no nuclear reactors under construction in the United States.
Vogtle Unit 3 began commercial operation in July 2023. The power plant's first two reactors, with a combined nominal output of 2,430 MW, were put into operation in 1987 and 1989. It surpasses the 4,210 MW Palo Verde Power Plant in Arizona, making Vogtle's four units the largest nuclear power plant in the United States.
Construction of the two new reactor sites began in 2009. The project was originally expected to cost $14 billion and begin commercial operations in 2016 (Vogtle 3) and 2017 (Vogtle 4), but there were significant construction delays and cost overruns. Georgia Power now estimates the total cost of the project at more than $30 billion.
The date of commercial operation occurs when the builders hand over a reactor to the power plant owner or operator, thereby declaring that the reactor is officially in commercial operation.
With a total installed capacity of approximately 97 GW, the United States is home to the largest commercial nuclear fleet of any country. The fleet of operating nuclear reactors accounted for nearly 19% of domestic electricity generation in 2023. This makes nuclear power the second largest source of electricity generation in the United States after natural gas, which accounted for 43% of electricity generation in the United States last year.
Electricity generation from nuclear reactors produces no CO2 emissions and can provide baseload power that would otherwise largely come from coal and natural gas power plants. Although a number of nuclear reactors have been decommissioned in recent years, interest in nuclear energy as a source of energy to reduce the carbon footprint of the U.S. power sector has recently increased.
Both Vogtle Units 3 and 4 use a newer reactor design, the Westinghouse AP1000. This reactor has a smaller footprint and a simpler design than previous generation reactor technologies. It also has passive safety systems designed to shut down the reactor without operator intervention or an external power source.
Vogtle Units 3 and 4 are the first and only U.S. deployments of the Generation III+ AP1000 reactor. Two more Westinghouse AP1000 reactors were planned for a nuclear power plant in South Carolina, but utilities there halted construction in 2017.
For more information about U.S. nuclear capacity and generation, visit our U.S. Nuclear Generation and Generation Capacity webpage.
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