Birmingham, Ala. - Southern Nuclear, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company, today informed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that it has completed its reconciliation of the physical inventory of spent nuclear fuel with its special nuclear material inventory records at the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant near Baxley, Ga. The announcement concludes an extensive inventory conducted as a follow-up to a November, 2005, initial notification to the NRC of a discrepancy between the amount of spent fuel in inventory versus the amount on record. The results have concluded that fuel material equivalent to approximately 18 inches remains unaccounted for. The fuel inventory at Plant Hatch totals more than 77 million inches.

The audit of spent fuel inventory was conducted because of fuel-inventory discrepancies at three other U. S. nuclear power facilities and a subsequent NRC Bulletin requiring that all nuclear power plants verify their spent fuel inventories.

In its November, 2005, notice, Southern Nuclear reported its preliminary findings of approximately 68 inches of unaccounted for special nuclear material. In the intervening nine months, Southern Nuclear continued its extensive search and retrieval program, using specialized equipment and cameras to visually inspect and retrieve additional material in the spent fuel pools. The retrieved material consists of fuel rod segments, fragments, chips, and small granules resulting from rod breakage which occurred in the early-1980s as a result of unanticipated corrosion of fuel cladding – the material surrounding the fuel pellets. This corrosion issue, affecting only boiling water reactor fuel, has been resolved and has not recurred since at Plant Hatch.

From a volume perspective, the amount of unaccounted for used fuel is less that 1.5 fluid ounces—or less than one-fourth of a cup. While small portions of the 18 inches may have been inadvertently shipped to a licensed waste disposal facility, Southern Nuclear believes that the balance of the unaccounted for material remains in the spent fuel pools in areas that are either unobservable by camera or otherwise inaccessible. Future plant activities and preparations for low-level waste shipments will take into account the possibility of the material’s presence in the pools, and any residual amount will be retrieved when the plant is decommissioned.

Nuclear fuel within a reactor vessel is located within fuel assemblies. During a normal power cycle, there are 560 fuel assemblies in each of the two reactors at Plant Hatch.  Each reactor core contains over 49,000 fuel rods. Within these rods, fuel pellets are stacked. A single fuel rod may contain approximately 150 inches of fuel in the form of fuel pellets less than one-half inch in length and less than one-fourth inch in diameter.

Theft or diversion is not plausible because of plant defense in depth provided by various physical barriers, procedures and measures such as: sophisticated radiation monitoring instrumentation, extensive security, and the size and type of container required for transporting nuclear material of this nature. 

State and local officials have also been notified of the conclusion of the inventory reconciliation.

Southern Nuclear, a subsidiary of Southern Company operates the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant in Baxley, Ga., the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant in Dothan, Al., and the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, located near Waynesboro, Ga.

With 4.3 million customers and more than 40,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast, one of America’s fastest-growing regions. A leading U.S. producer of electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are significantly below the national average. Southern Company has received the highest ranking in customer satisfaction among U.S. electric service providers for seven consecutive years by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Visit our Web site at www.southerncompany.com.