Georgia Power announced a major milestone in the construction of Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4 – more than 25 million safe work hours (without a lost time accident) have been logged by the more than 6,000 construction workers on site since December 2014.  The Vogtle expansion is the state's largest job-producing construction project with work taking place around the clock to complete the nation's first new nuclear units in more than 30 years.

"Safety is our first priority and we're dedicated, in every task we do, to ensuring that these units are completed safely, correctly and in a way that will deliver the most value for Georgia electric customers," said Mark Rauckhorst, executive vice president of nuclear development. "We will never compromise in our commitment to safe and high-quality construction and I applaud our entire Vogtle construction team for reaching this milestone."

Georgia Power is documenting the daily progress made at the Vogtle expansion and has posted an updated time lapse video on its YouTube Channel highlighting six years of construction work in less than two minutes. So far this year, thousands of workers from across the country worked together to safely place more than 2,200 tons of rebar, weld more than 4,300 tons of structural steel, pour more than 23,500 cubic yards of concrete and lift numerous multi-million pound modules for the units into place.

Most recently, workers placed six new shield building panels for Unit 3. Nearly 50 steel panels are now in place for the shield building, which encapsulates the Unit 3 containment vessel. The reinforced individual panels can weigh 10 tons or more and be filled with concrete. Once fully assembled, including more than 160 individual panels, the shield building will provide structural support of the containment cooling water supply and protect the containment vessel, which houses the reactor vessel and associated equipment.