Southern Co: Japan quake won't stall Ga nuke plant

ATLANTA – The head of the Atlanta-based Southern Co. does not expect an earthquake that triggered a nuclear crisis in Japan will delay construction of two more nuclear reactors in Georgia.

Southern Co. chief executive Tom Fanning said in a statement that his company is monitoring events in Japan, but it remains committed to building two new reactors at Plant Vogtle near Waynesboro in the eastern part of the state. Fanning says he expects the project will hold to its current construction schedule and remain on budget.

If approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the $14 billion project could become the first nuclear plant in the United States to break ground in a generation. The Obama administration has promised $8 billion in federal loan guarantees to fund it.