Georgia Power moving forward with construction milestones at Vogtle plant

Georgia Power placed the middle containment vessel ring for Unit 4 at the Vogtle nuclear expansion near Waynesboro, Ga.

It is one of several projects ongoing at the facility.

The 2.4 million-pound, 51-foot tall containment vessel ring – which consists of dozens of individual steel plates — is part of the structure that houses the reactor vessel. The middle ring is the second of three containment vessel rings to be set for Unit 4.

Additionally, the placement of more than 930 cubic yards of concrete was completed inside the Unit 3 shield building. The Unit 3 shield building is now more than 80 percent complete. The shield building is made of steel and concrete.

Workers also set the fourth and final core make-up tank for the Vogtle 3 & 4 projects. The 330,000-pound stainless-steel tank is part of the safety core cooling system to keep the reactor vessel cool. The tank was placed inside the Unit 4 containment vessel.

Finally, the last section of the steel floor that sits atop the in-containment refueling water storage tank (IRWST) has been set inside the Unit 4 containment vessel. The IRWST contains more than 500,000 gallons of borated water and provides heat removal from the reactor.

The Vogtle 3 & 4 facility employs more than 400 craft workers, mostly pipefitters and electricians, and more than 8,000 workers overall.

Once the units begin operating, the facilities will employ more than 800 permanent workers. It is owned by Georgia Power, which serves 2.6 million customers in Georgia.