An emergency alert was triggered at Georgia’s largest nuclear facility on Tuesday following a fire in an electrical transformer. The incident, deemed minor by Georgia Power Co. spokesperson John Kraft, occurred around noon and posed a potential threat to the electrical supply for the heating and cooling system in the control room of Vogtle Unit 2, one of the older nuclear reactors at the site.
Plant personnel successfully extinguished the fire, as confirmed by Georgia Power officials, and the emergency alert was lifted shortly after 2:30 p.m. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, as stated by Kraft.
Dave Gasperson, a spokesperson for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, assured that the fire was contained and did not impact any operational systems at the plant. A backup power system was readily available for the affected heating and cooling system. The commission’s onsite inspector monitored the situation, with the federal agency now assessing the necessity of additional follow-up inspections.
Authorities emphasized that the incident caused no injuries and did not endanger the well-being of employees or the public. All four nuclear reactors on-site continued to generate electricity at full capacity, according to Kraft.
This emergency alert falls within the second-lowest emergency category outlined by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which does not pose a direct threat to public safety. Normal operations resumed at the plant following the resolution of the alert.
Georgia Power affirmed ongoing collaboration with federal, state, and local entities for recovery efforts. The plant, jointly owned by Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power Corp., Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, and Dalton city utilities, serves a vast consumer base encompassing nearly all residents of Georgia, as well as select utilities in Florida and Alabama.
While the older reactors at Vogtle were commissioned in 1987 and 1989, the newer units, operational this year, are engineered to prevent meltdowns in the event of power loss. These latest reactors mark the first new constructions in the U.S. in several decades, albeit facing delays and cost overruns. The project’s total expenditure, inclusive of compensation from Westinghouse due to discontinued construction, nears $35 billion, reflecting a significant investment in nuclear energy infrastructure.