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Utilities begin loading radioactive fuel into a second new reactor at Georgia nuclear plant

FILE - Nuclear reactors and cooling towers of the four units of Plant Vogtle, a nuclear plant near Waynesboro, Ga., are shown on July 31, 2023. Georgia Power Co. announced Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, that Unit 4, at far right, is loading fuel, with the aim of sending power to the grid reliably by March 2024. Unit 4 and the now-operating Unit 3 and Unit 4 are the first new American reactors built from scratch in decades. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)
Arvin Temkar/AP
/
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
FILE - Nuclear reactors and cooling towers of the four units of Plant Vogtle, a nuclear plant near Waynesboro, Ga., are shown on July 31, 2023. Georgia Power Co. announced Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, that Unit 4, at far right, is loading fuel, with the aim of sending power to the grid reliably by March 2024. Unit 4 and the now-operating Unit 3 and Unit 4 are the first new American reactors built from scratch in decades. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)

Utilities begin loading radioactive fuel into a second new reactor at Georgia nuclear plant
Georgia Power Co. and co-owners said Thursday that they are transferring fuel into Unit 4 at Plant Vogtle, southeast of Augusta.

The two-reactor project is seven years late and $17 billion over budget. Unit 3 entered commercial operation on July 31. Georgia Power says Unit 4 will be complete by March. The owners are currently projected to pay $31 billion for Vogtle.

Loading fuel triggers a proceeding by the Georgia Public Service Commission to decide how much Georgia Power customers should pay for the project and how much of the costs the unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co. should absorb as wasteful.