Nuclear Reactors Near Augusta Get License Renewals

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed the operating licenses for two nuclear reactors at the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Waynesboro, near Augusta.

The renewal is good until the year 2047 for one of the existing reactors and 2049 for the other.

Plant Vogtle, meanwhile, has received widespread attention -- and controversy -- as it also seeks to build two more reactors. Georgia Power, a majority owner of Plant Vogtle, and Southern Nuclear Operating Company, which operates the plant, have been seeking approval to build the additional reactors. The state public service commission says the reactors would meet an increasing demand for electricity in Georgia. Environmental groups, meanwhile, have argued that the demand is not big enough to justify the reactors.

The state public service commission has given the okay for the proposed new reactors, but the NRC is still reviewing the proposal. Construction of the reactors would be among the first in the U.S. in decades.

Environmental groups, meanwhile, oppose the proposed new reactors.

For more information about the existing reactors and the license renewals, click here.