Federal regulators expected to approve US$14B nuclear reactors in Georgia within weeks; government guaranteeing more than US$8B in loans for project

Tracy McDonald

ATLANTA , January 30, 2012 (Associated Press) – A newspaper is reporting that regulators are expected to approve a $14 billion nuclear power project near Augusta within weeks.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (http://bit.ly/wkDHv8 ) on Sunday that the move by Southern Co. to build two new reactors at Plant Vogtle would be the nation's first new nuclear power reactors in three decades.

The project likely wouldn't have happened without financial incentives paid for by consumers and taxpayers.

The federal government is guaranteeing more than $8 billion in loans for the project. And Georgia Power's 2.4 million customers are already footing the bill for the project even though it hasn't received final approval yet.

Southern Co. chief executive Tom Fanning told the newspaper that no project like Vogtle could be built now without regulatory and financial support.

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