A massive US nuclear plant is finally complete. It might be the last of its kind

livemint.com:

A new nuclear reactor reached commercial operation in Georgia on Monday, completing a project whose delays and sticker shock helped upend the near-term prospects for nuclear power in the U.S. The first two reactors at Plant Vogtle, operated by Southern Co., opened in the 1980s. Adding two new reactors cost more than $30 billion, more than twice the initial estimates, and are a major reason no other large nuclear-power facilities are under development in the U.S.

and the industry focus has shifted to smaller designs. Still, Plant Vogtle is now the nation’s largest nuclear plant, as well as its largest generator of carbon-free electricity, and its arrival comes as public perceptions of nuclear power have been shifting. The two newest reactors can each deliver power to around 500,000 homes and businesses, according to Georgia Power, a unit of Southern Co.

Chris Womack, chairman and chief executive of Southern Co., called the Vogtle expansion a “hallmark achievement." “These new Vogtle units not only will support the economy within our communities now and in the future, they demonstrate our global nuclear leadership," Womack said. Southern also operates another nuclear plant in Georgia, and last year about a quarter of its generation in that state was nuclear. The project in Georgia was plagued by delays, design changes and turmoil.

Cost overruns there and at a project in South Carolina, later abandoned, caused the original contractor, Westinghouse Electric, to declare bankruptcy in 2016. Southern later took over the project, only to be hit by pandemic-related disruptions to construction. The average Georgia Power residential customer has already paid around $1,000 for the plant’s construction, which lasted seven years