State regulators, federal inspectors give big headaches to Vogtle owners

Managers of the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project are having an especially bad month, which is saying something for a long-delayed project billions of dollars over budget.

Georgia Power and its parent company, Southern Co. endured a blistering hearing at the Georgia Public Service Commission Thursday, just days after U.S. nuclear regulators launched a review of electrical cable systems at the plant near Augusta.

The five-member PSC board assembled virtually to consider the energy company’s latest $670 million spending request, but that discussion took a backseat to complaints by state regulators and independent monitors that mismanagement of the project is creating more setbacks for the nuclear project started more than a decade ago.

Georgia Power officials tangled with PSC staff often over the years of delays, but this week the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission tacked on an investigation into Southern’s response to problems with the electrical cable system used as a safety mechanism at Vogtle.

Read more: https://georgiarecorder.com/2021/06/24/state-regulators-federal-inspectors-give-big-headaches-to-vogtle-owners/