The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that Georgia Power has announced Unit 4, a 1,114-megawatt (MW) nuclear reactor at Plant Vogtle in Georgia, entered commercial operation this week. They write:
Georgia Power announced this week that the 1,114-megawatt (MW) Unit 4 nuclear power reactor at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro, Georgia, entered into commercial operation after connecting to the power grid in March 2024. The commercial start of Unit 4 completes the 11-year expansion project at Plant Vogtle. No nuclear reactors are under construction now in the United States.
Vogtle Unit 3 began commercial operation in July 2023. The plant’s first two reactors, with a combined 2,430 MW of nameplate capacity, began operations in 1987 and 1989. The two new reactors bring Plant Vogtle’s total generating capacity to nearly 5 gigawatts (GW), surpassing the 4,210-MW Palo Verde plant in Arizona and making Vogtle’s four units the largest nuclear power plant in the United States. […]
Both Vogtle Units 3 and 4 use a newer reactor design, the Westinghouse AP1000. This reactor has a smaller footprint and simpler design than previous generation reactor technologies. It also features passive safety systems that are intended to shut down the reactor without any operator action or external power source.
Vogtle Units 3 and 4 are the first and only U.S. deployments of the AP1000 Generation III+ reactor. Two other Westinghouse AP1000 reactors were planned for a nuclear power plant in South Carolina, but utilities there halted construction in 2017.
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