Georgia Power Company announced the start of commercial operation of Unit 4 of the Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant, which is located near the city of Waynespur in the US state of Georgia.

This step represents a significant achievement; The new unit is the first nuclear plant built in the United States in more than thirty years.

This unit comes as part of the Vogtle station expansion project, which was launched 11 years ago, and aims to increase the generating capacity of the station by adding two new reactors.

The fourth unit was connected to the electricity grid last March. This makes the Vogtle plant now the largest nuclear power plant in the country, with a generating capacity of approximately 5 gigawatts.

It is noteworthy that the fourth unit, with a capacity of 1.1 gigawatts, is the second to enter into commercial operation in less than a year, after the third unit was operated with the same capacity in July 2023.

The station's first two reactors began operating in 1987 and 1989, with a total capacity of 2.43 gigawatts.

Despite long construction delays that led to costs doubling to more than $30 billion, the two new units are considered a valuable addition to the US nuclear power fleet, which is considered the largest in the world with a total capacity of 97 gigawatts.

Nuclear energy contributes 19% of the total domestic electricity production in the United States, ranking second after natural gas.

The new reactors at the Vogtle plant use the latest designs from Westinghouse Electric, which feature self-safety systems that enable them to shut down automatically without the need for human intervention or an external electricity source. This technology is an advanced step towards enhancing safety and efficiency in American nuclear power plants.

These developments demonstrate the growing interest in nuclear energy as a reliable and clean source of electricity, especially in light of efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of the country's electricity sector.