52-ton CA02 Module Placed at Vogtle Unit 4

Staff Report From Georgia CEO

Thursday, November 9th, 2017

Georgia Power announced the latest milestone at the Vogtle nuclear expansion project – the recent placement of the CA02 module for Unit 4. Weighing 52 tons, the CA02 is a critical component and part of the In-Containment Refueling Water Storage Tank. The IRWST is a 75,300 cubic foot tank that, once the units are operational, is filled with borated water and is a key safety feature within containment providing automatic, gravity-fed backup cooling for the reactor vessel.

Georgia Power has also released the latest Vogtle Timeline video highlighting safety, productivity and efficiency at the Vogtle site in the third quarter of 2017. More than 6,000 workers are onsite today working on the nation's only new nuclear units and focused on increased productivity and safe, high-quality construction.

Now available on Georgia Power's YouTube Channel, the new Vogtle Timeline video includes:  

  • Comments from Mark Rauckhorst, executive vice president for the Vogtle 3 and 4 project. Rauckhorst discusses progress and productivity at the site, the unified recommendation to move forward with the project and the renewed confidence of thousands of workers with more than 40 million safe work hours achieved without a lost-time accident.   

  • Construction progress through the third quarter of 2017, highlighting recent milestones such as placement of the first steam generator, installation of two accumulator tanks for Unit 3 and a concrete placement lasting more than 75 hours in Unit 3 containment resulting in continuous pouring of nearly 2,000 cubic yards of concrete, followed by placement of 430 cubic yards of concrete in Unit 4 containment.

  • Plant Vogtle's continued support of local education through programs such as Neighborhood Renewal. Four local students recently received college scholarships to pursue careers in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.

Follow the progress being made at the project with new photos added from the Vogtle nuclear expansion site each month in the Plant Vogtle 3 & 4 Online Photo Gallery.

Vogtle Project Review Underway 
Georgia Power owns 45.7 percent of the new units, with the project's other Georgia-based co-owners including Oglethorpe Power, MEAG Power and Dalton Utilities. On August 31, Georgia Power filed a recommendation with the Georgia Public Service Commission to continue construction of the Vogtle nuclear expansion supported by all of the project's other co-owners. The recommendation was based on the results of a comprehensive schedule, cost-to-complete and cancellation assessment launched following the bankruptcy of Westinghouse in March. The Georgia PSC is reviewing the recommendation and is expected to make a decision regarding the future of the Vogtle 3 and 4 project as part of the 17th Vogtle Construction Monitoring proceeding. Read the 17th VCM Report here and comments from Georgia Power Chairman, President & CEO Paul Bowers to the Georgia PSC here.

From the beginning of the Vogtle expansion, Georgia Power has worked to minimize the impact of the new units on customer bills. This effort continues during the Georgia PSC's review of the recommendation with the company recently announcing a conditional commitment of approximately $1.67 billion in additional loan guarantees for the project from the U.S. Department of Energy, as well as receipt of the first of multiple scheduled parent guarantee payments from Toshiba. Today, the total expected rate impact of the project remains less than the original estimate, after including anticipated customer benefits from federal production tax credits, interest savings from loan guarantees from the DOE and the fuel savings of nuclear energy.

Final approval and issuance of these additional loan guarantees by the DOE cannot be assured and are subject to the negotiation of definitive agreements, completion of due diligence by the DOE, receipt of any necessary regulatory approvals, and satisfaction of other conditions.