Southern Co.'s Georgia Power Fixes Hydrogen Seal at Vogtle Unit 3, Delays Start Up

By Ben Glickman

Southern Co.'s Georgia Power is remediating a damaged hydrogen seal discovered during testing of a reactor at its Vogtle nuclear-power plant, pushing back the long-delayed start of service to July.

The Atlanta-based power company said in a regulatory filing Friday that testing of Unit 3 of the Vogtle plant was 95% complete, but the plant will be offline while the hydrogen seal is restored.

The company previously said it could be placed in service in June. Last month, the company reported that Vogtle Unit 3 had reached full energy output for the first time.

Southern also said in the filing that new challenges identified during testing could result in further delays and elevated costs.

The Vogtle facility, the only nuclear power plant under construction in the U.S., has been plagued by delays and is billions of dollars over budget. The plant was originally planned to open in 2016.

Write to Ben Glickman at ben.glickman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 16, 2023 17:41 ET (21:41 GMT)

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