Vogtle Unit 4 Becomes Standard for AP1000 Construction

Plant Vogtle Unit 4 has become the standard reference facility for future AP1000 projects in the U.S. Westinghouse, the designer of the AP1000s, has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to renew and update the design certification of the reactor following Unit 4’s as‑built configuration.

Vogtle Units 3 and 4 were first-of-a-kind in several respects: they were the first AP1000 units built in the U.S.; the first new construction of a U.S. nuclear facility in more than 30 years; the first units licensed under a new NRC licensing process; and the first to use fully passive safety systems, modular construction and a standard design.

Since coming online in 2023 and 2024, both units have demonstrated strong operational performance. Unit 4, in particular, achieved a 96.7% availability factor from the start of commercial operation to the first refueling outage, and an availability factor of 100% during the second fuel cycle through the end of 2025.

Using Vogtle Unit 4 as the standard reference unit for all new AP1000 projects, Westinghouse aims to accelerate new AP1000 combined license (COL) applications and deliver a faster deployment of AP1000 units.

In 2025, the U.S. government signed an $80 billion deal with Westinghouse to deploy 10 new AP1000 reactors across the U.S., with construction starting by 2030. The AP1000 technology also has been selected for nuclear energy programs in Poland, Ukraine and Bulgaria, and is under consideration at multiple other sites in Europe, the Middle East and North America.