Georgia Power said Thursday the Vogtle nuclear power plant expansion project near Waynesboro, Ga., received two packages from Italy this week – two core make-up tanks for Unit 4, each weighing 149 tons.
The tanks were fabricated in Itay and arrived through the Port of Savannah, where they were placed on a train for shipment to the construction site.
In addition, the 672-ton Unit 4 Steam Generator A recently reached the site following a journey from South Korea to the Port of Savannah.
Buzz Miller, executive vice president of nuclear development for Georgia Power, hailed the global supply chain that “continues to bring components and equipment safely to the Vogtle expansion site.” Components have arrived from South Korea, Italy and Japan. Miller praised the diligence of workers at Port of Savannah and all along the route for safely delivering parts for what he called an historic project.
In the last 16 months, the Port of Savannah has handled more than 24,000 tons of equipment and components for Vogtle Units 3 and 4, said Georgia Power in a statement.
“Just as the Vogtle nuclear expansion will meet the energy needs of a growing Georgia for more than 60 years, the Port of Savannah is helping meet the international logistics needs of the project. In fact, the Georgia Ports Authority recently announced that its Fiscal Year 2015 was a record year for the amount of cargo moving through the state's ports,” the company said.
Georgia Power's Vogtle expansion is expected to culminate in a power plant that produces more electricity than any other U.S. nuclear power plant. Southern Nuclear, a subsidiary of Southern Company, is overseeing the construction. Southern Nuclear will also operate the completed 1,100-megawatt reactors which are expected to go online in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and Dalton Utilities own the two new units with Georgia Power owning the largest share – 45.7 percent.