Birmingham-based Southern Nuclear Operating Co. today became the licensed operator of the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant and the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant. Until now, Georgia Power Co. had been the licensed operator of both nuclear plants.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the transfer of the operating licenses of plants Hatch and Vogtle from Georgia Power to Southern Nuclear Operating Company. Both are subsidiaries of Southern Company.

The license transfer means that all plant operating and management responsibilities -- along with federal regulatory accountability -- are now assumed by Southern Nuclear. Also, employees at plants Hatch and Vogtle will be transferred from Georgia Power to Southern Nuclear.

Created as a subsidiary of Southern Company in 1990, Southern Nuclear already is the licensed operator of Farley Nuclear Plant near Dothan, Ala.

Plant Hatch, located near Baxley in southeastern Georgia, is a two-unit, 1,677- megawatt boiling water reactor plant. Unit 1 began commercial operation in 1975, unit 2 in 1979.

Plant Vogtle is a two-unit pressurized water reactor plant near Waynesboro in eastern Georgia near the South Carolina border. It has a combined capacity of 2,430 megawatts. Its first unit began commercial operation in 1987 and its second unit in 1989.

“This completes Southern Company’s plan to bring all three of its nuclear plants under Southern Nuclear management,” said W. George Hairston, president and chief executive officer of Southern Nuclear. “All three plants have excellent records -- nationally and internationally -- for safety and efficiency.”

Plants Farley, Vogtle and Hatch supply about one-fifth of Southern Company’s total electric generation.

Ownership of plants Hatch and Vogtle will remain unchanged. Both plants are jointly owned by Georgia Power, the City of Dalton, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and Oglethorpe Power.

In addition to Hairston, senior management at Southern Nuclear includes executive vice president Jack D. Woodard and executive vice president and corporate counsel James H. Miller III.

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