With Georgia Power's 45.7% ownership interest ergo implying a total capitalized construction cost of 23.76 billion for Unit 3-4.

This is not inclusive of the non-capitalized financing charges incurred (interest) totaling 3.53 billion by Georgia Power, as this was recovered via ratepayer surcharges before completion.

Like many North American nuclear power stations, each of the Vogtle units are constructed of a steel-lined, prestressed, post-tensioned concrete cylinder with a hemispherical dome.

[21] More precise measurements reduce the degree of uncertainty in the power level, which is used by analysts to predict the ability of the reactor to be safely shut down under postulated accident conditions.

[21] Because the reactor power can be calculated with much greater accuracy than with the older venturi type measurement, the plant can safely run within a tighter margin of error to its limits.

The NRC staff determined that Southern Nuclear could safely increase the reactor's power output primarily through more accurate means of measuring feedwater flow.

NRC staff also reviewed Southern Nuclear's evaluations showing that the plant's design can handle the increased power level.

At 9:20 a.m., a truck carrying fuel and lubricants in the plant's 230 kV switchyard backed into a support column for the feeder line supplying power to the Unit 1-A reserve auxiliary transformer (RAT).

Even though Unit 1 was offline at the time, residual heat from the natural decay of the radioactive fuel must be removed to prevent a dangerous rise in core temperature.

This electrical fault also affected Unit 2 by causing breakers in the 230 kV switchyard to trip, cutting off power to RAT 2-B and vital bus "B."

This caused a full load rejection to Unit 2, leading to a turbine trip and subsequently, a reactor scram.

At 9:03 p.m., the RAT 2-B breakers in the switchyard were reset and offsite power was restored to the vital and non-vital "B" electrical trains, allowing reactor coolant pumps 2 and 4 to be restarted.

In August 2006, Southern Nuclear formally applied for an Early Site Permit (ESP)[25] for two additional units, and in March 2008, submitted an application for a Combined Construction and Operating License (COL).

[26] In April 2008, Georgia Power Company reached a contract agreement for two AP1000 reactors designed by Westinghouse, owned by Toshiba.

[27][28] In August 2009, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued an Early Site Permit and a Limited Work Authorization.

In December 2011, a 19th revision was written for the AP1000 Design Certification, which effectively included a complete redesign of the containment building:The wall is appropriately reinforced and sized where the composite wall module joins the reinforced concrete sections and as appropriate to accommodate seismic loads and aircraft loads.

[emphasis added]As this change to the design requirements was made after engineering contracts were already signed and manufacturing had begun on the reactor's long-lead-time components, it resulted in a halting of construction as the containment building had to be redesigned.

[35] NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko cast the lone dissenting vote on plans to build and operate the two new nuclear power reactors, citing safety concerns stemming from Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, saying, "I cannot support issuing this license as if Fukushima never happened.

[47] Recent construction milestones include setting the final of the "big six" structural modules for Unit 3 (CA-02 and CA-03, which form the walls of a storage tank that is part of the reactor's passive cooling system).

[citation needed] In March 2017, Westinghouse Electric Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to losses from its two U.S. nuclear construction projects.

[48] The U.S. government has given $8.3 billion of loan guarantees to help finance construction of the Vogtle reactors,[49] and a way forward to completing the plant has been agreed upon.

On August 31, 2017, Southern announced its decision to move forward with Bechtel to be the day-to-day construction manager for the remainder of the project.

[51] In November 2017 the Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC) requested additional documentation following concerns that design blueprints had not been approved by appropriately licensed engineers, which has legal implications.

On December 21, 2017, the PSC approved the continuation of construction on Units 3 and 4, with conditions that reduced the costs that can be recovered from ratepayers over the life of the project,[52] causing a scheduled monthly consumer rate increase of $3.78 after first power.

The Georgia Power CEO said the loan guarantees played a key role in reducing financing costs for the build.

[57] Also in March 2019, Georgia Power confirmed that the Unit 3 containment cap had been lowered into place and the reactor would be ready to load nuclear fuel in 2020.

The containment vessel's top head was set during a site visit by Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and executives of the plant's owners.

On February 11, 2020, Southern Nuclear announced that the final concrete placement inside the Unit 3 containment vessel was completed, allowing installation of the reactor's fueling machine.

[64][65][53][66] On May 2, 2023, Georgia Power announced that Vogtle Unit 4 had completed hot functional testing which confirmed that the reactor was ready for its first fuel load.

[73] The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to either reactor at Vogtle was 1 in 140,845, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.