To the ears of the U.S. nuclear community, the news from Georgia Power on July 31 must have sounded like "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth: After years of delay, Unit 3 at the Vogtle nuclear power plant has entered commercial operation, becoming the first newly constructed power reactor in the United States in more than 30 years and the nation's first Westing-house-supplied Generation Ⅲ+ AP1000 unit to be placed into service. The new unit joined Vogtle-1 and -2-1,169-MWe four-loop pressurized water reactors that entered commercial operation in the late 1980s. The long-awaited announcement came just days after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission gave the go-ahead for fuel load at Vogtle-3's twin, Unit 4, which is currently expected to begin commercial operation in the fourth quarter of this year or first quarter of 2024. The authorization came July 28 via an NRC letter to Southern Nuclear, the Vogtle plant's operator, verifying the company's July 20 notification to the agency that all 364 inspections, tests, and analyses for Unit 4 had been performed, and all acceptance criteria met-a prerequisite for commencing fuel load.
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