The company said the operation is an “important step” that allows for the installation of machinery to be used for loading fuel into the reactor core.
Georgia Power said it has already ordered the first batch of nuclear fuel for Vogtle-3, but did not give a delivery timeframe.
According to the company, the final concrete placement for the other unit at the site, Vogtle-4, has been scheduled in the next months.
More than 22,000 tonnes of concrete have been placed inside the unit’s containment vessel since construction began, Georgia Power said.
Vogtle-3 and -4, both Westinghouse AP1000 units, are the first commercial nuclear plants to be built in the US in a generation and the only new units under construction in the country. Construction began in 2013.
Southern Company owns 45.7% of the Vogtle project via its subsidiary Georgia Power. The other co-owners are Oglethorpe Power with 30%, MEAG Power with 22.7% and Dalton Utilities with the remaining 1.6%.
Another company, Southern Nuclear, which operates nuclear plants for Georgia Power, took over project management from Westinghouse in 2017.
