HispanicBusiness

Southern Co. said it was ready to build two nuclear reactors at a Georgia power plant after getting the green light Thursday from federal regulators.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced it had approved the licenses for the reactors at Georgia Power's current nuclear plant in Waynesboro, which will be the first new reactors built in the United States in about 30 years.

"We are committed to bringing these units online to deliver clean, safe and reliable energy to our customers," Thomas Fanning, Southern's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a written statement. "The project is on track, and our targets related to cost and schedule are achievable."

About $14 billion will be invested in the project by the time it is completed, and peak construction employment will be as high as 4,000 workers, the company said.

Southern expects to have the first reactor, known as Unit 3, up and running in 2016. Unit 4 will be completed the following year. The Westinghouse AP1000 units each will produce 1,100 megawatts of electricity.

The NRC said its inspectors have been on the plant site since 2010 and late last year approved the amended design of the reactors. The agency noted part of the design is an emergency shutdown feature that does not require human intervention or an outside source of electricity.