BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Oct. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Plant operators safely took Unit 2 of the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant offline early Sunday morning, Oct. 9 for a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage. Unit 2 completed 231 days of continuous operation.

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Each unit at Plant Farley requires refueling every eighteen months. Aside from refueling the reactor and performing regular maintenance and testing work, during the current outage workers also will replace the units low pressure turbine.

Plant Farley Unit 1 will continue to safely generate electricity while Unit 2 is offline.

About Southern Nuclear:

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

About Southern Company:

With 4.4 million customers and more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast. 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 below the national average. Southern Company was named the World's Most Admired Electric and Gas Utility by Fortune magazine in 2011, and is consistently listed among the top U.S. electric service providers in customer satisfaction by the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Visit our website at www.southerncompany.com.

www.southerncompany.com/southernnuclear

SOURCE Southern Company