Southern's Ala. nuclear reactors raise new doubts

[jpak]

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2008/05/16/Southern_0517.html

As Atlanta-based Southern Co. pushes forward with plans for new nuclear reactors in Georgia, problems continue with existing reactors in Alabama.

New equipment failures at Plant Farley near Dothan — two backup generators failed in March — have pushed the company close to another safety downgrade, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission told Southern in a letter Friday.

The generator failures could push one of Farley's two reactors — Unit One — into the next-worse category by fall, the NRC wrote.

Only one other nuclear plant nationally — Palo Verde in Arizona — is in that category, which is one ranking shy of the one that will force a reactor to shut down.

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