Tom Fanning, Chief Executive Officer of Southern Company, said in an interview this week that the issues causing delays at the Plant Vogtle expansion project had provoked a reassessment of the company's time line for pushing for new nuclear projects.
Georgia Power CEO Paul Bowers said last year that there was a “very high probability” the company would seek new nuclear power building projects. At that point, he said the company would notify regulators this spring of the company's intentions.
Last week, however, it was announced that the original completion date for two new reactors at the Vogtle facility, which could be the first new nuclear plant projects completed in 30 years, had been pushed back by three years.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week quoted Fanning as saying that the company was still “committed to nuclear as a dominant solution in the future to the nation's energy portfolio.”
Fanning also said, “Before we move forward on new nuclear, I think it makes sense for us to resolve these issues,” referring to issues that had cropped up during construction at the Vogtle construction site near Atlanta.