Cost pressure intensifies for Southern Co. nuclear plant

January 30, 2015 at 2:32 p.m. | Updated January 30, 2015 at 2:45 p.m.

by Associated Press

In this Friday, June 13, 2014 photo, a new cooling tower for a nuclear power plant reactor that's under construction stands near the two operating reactors at Plant Vogtle power plant in Waynesboro, Ga. Southern Co. said the firms building its new nuclear power plant in Georgia estimate the project will be delayed 18 months, potentially costing the power company $720 million in new charges, company officials said Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
In this Friday, June 13, 2014 photo, a new cooling tower for a nuclear power plant reactor that's under construction stands near the two operating reactors at Plant Vogtle power plant in Waynesboro, Ga. Southern Co. said the firms building its new nuclear power plant in Georgia estimate the project will be delayed 18 months, potentially costing the power company $720 million in new charges, company officials said Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

ATLANTA (AP) - The delays and cost overruns are piling up for a new plant in Georgia that was supposed to prove nuclear energy can be built affordably.

Southern Co. announced this week the builders of Plant Vogtle expect construction will be delayed 18 months. That would bring the total project delays to roughly three years.

The firms designing and building the plant, Westinghouse Electric Co. and Chicago Bridge and Iron Co., want Southern Co. and its co-owners to pay roughly $1 billion for previous delays and snags.

Regulatory filings show the latest delay could cost Southern Co. an additional $720 million. The other co-owners have not yet disclosed their potential costs.

Similar delays and costs have surfaced at an identical project in South Carolina.

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