Utility begins loading fuel at new Georgia nuclear plant

By JEFF AMY
Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Workers have begun loading radioactive fuel into a new nuclear reactor in Georgia. The announcement Friday by utilities means the first new nuclear reactor built in decades in the United States is on track to begin generating electricity in coming months. Georgia Power says workers will transfer 157 fuel assemblies into the reactor core at Plant Vogtle in coming days. After fuel is loaded, operators will test whether the plant’s cooling and steam supply system works and then begin generating power by March. The cost of a third and fourth reactor at Vogtle has climbed from an original estimate of $14 billion to more than $30 billion.