Southern Company (Atlanta-based utility company) recently announced they expect the first of their two new-generation nuclear power plants, being built at the Plant Vogtle site, to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2023. 

They began fuel load for Unit 3 earlier this month, and its first sustained nuclear reaction could occur this January, following testing of its electric and safety systems.  All this, as construction on the second new generation unit, Vogtle Unit 4, continues, with its expected completion by late 2023. 

Southern Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Thomas A. Fanning, said that Vogtle will be a valuable asset for a nascent energy transition away from fossil fuels. We know that coal is dissipating in importance and natural gas has its issues.  Nuclear is the safest, at-scale, carbon-free emission resource not subject to intermittency like renewables. 

This image provided by Georgia Power is Unit 3 at Plant Vogtle in Waynesboro, Georgia. (AP Newsroom)