Environmental groups trying to persuade Georgia Power to not build two additional nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle held a small protest before a hearing about the project Wednesday morning.
“We’re urging the PSC and the nuclear industry to take a new direction,” said Courtney Hanson, public outreach coordinator for Georgia Women’s Action for New Direction (WAND).
Georgia Power is part of a group of utilities that wants to build two nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle in east Georgia. The company is responsible for $6.1 billion of the $14 billion plant.
The Georgia Public Service Commission’s hearing will discuss who will pay for major cost overruns, should they happen.
The small group of protesters, which included the Sierra Club of Georgia and Atlanta Grandmothers for Peace, said that Switzerland, Germany and Italy have made a decision not to build any more nuclear plants in the wake of the Fukushima accident in Japan, and that Georgia Power should do the same.
“The problem is, the world is going in one way, and Georgia Power is going another,” said Bobbie Paul, executive director of Georgia WAND. “We must stop. It’s the right thing to do, and it’s the only thing to do.”
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