Georgia
Utilities begin loading radioactive fuel into a second new reactor at Georgia nuclear plant
ATLANTA (AP) — Workers have begun loading radioactive fuel into a second new nuclear reactor in Georgia, utilities said Thursday, putting the reactor on a path to begin generating electricity in the coming months.
Georgia Power Co. says workers will transfer 157 fuel assemblies into the reactor core at Plant Vogtle, southeast of Augusta, in the next few days. There are already three reactors operating at the plant. Two reactors have been operating for decades, while the third reactor entered commercial operation on July 31, becoming the first new nuclear unit built from scratch in the United States in decades.
It’s a key step toward completing the two-reactor project, which is seven years late and $17 billion over budget.
Once fuel is loaded, operators will conduct tests and begin splitting atoms, which creates the high temperatures that boil steam that drives turbines, which generates electricity. The company says unit 4 is supposed to reach commercial operation by March 2024.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled Unit 4 was ready for fuel in July.
In Georgia, almost every electric customer will pay for Vogtle. Georgia Power, the largest unit of Atlanta-based Southern Co., currently owns 45.7% of the reactors. Smaller shares are owned by Oglethorpe Power Corp., which provides electricity to member-owned cooperatives, the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and the city of Dalton. Some Florida and Alabama utilities have also contracted to buy Vogtle’s power.
Currently, the owners are projected to pay $31 billion in capital and financing costs, Associated Press calculations show. Add in $3.7 billion that original contractor Westinghouse paid to the Vogtle owners to walk away from building the reactors, and the total nears $35 billion.
Georgia Power’s 2.7 million customers are already paying part of the financing cost, as a well as a monthly rate increase of more than $4 for the third reactor, which takes effect with bills this month.
But the elected five-member Georgia Public Service Commission will decide later who pays for the remainder of the costs. Regulators have said loading fuel into the fourth reactor will be the trigger for deciding whether Georgia Power’s spending decisions were prudent.
That process will determine how much the company’s customers will pay for Vogtle, as opposed to whether shareholders absorb additional losses. Georgia Power CEO Kim Greene has said the company hasn’t decided how much it will ask customers to pay. Southern Co. has written off $3.26 billion in Vogtle losses since 2018, suggesting it won’t recoup those costs.
The high construction costs have wiped out any future benefit from low nuclear fuel costs in the future, experts have repeatedly testified.
Commissioners earlier said they would presume $5.7 billion of Georgia’s Power’s spending as prudent. The company is now projected to spend more than $10.5 billion on construction and $3.5 billion on financing.
At its full output of 1,100 megawatts of electricity, each of the two new units will be able to power 500,000 homes and businesses. A number of other utilities in Georgia, Florida and Alabama are also receiving the electricity.
Vogtle is important because government officials and some utilities are again looking to nuclear power to alleviate climate change by generating electricity without burning natural gas, coal and oil. But most focus in the U.S. currently is on smaller nuclear reactors, which advocates hope can be built without the cost and schedule overruns that have plagued Vogtle.

Georgia
Georgia man arrested in connection with multiple residential, vehicle burglaries in Doral

DORAL, Fla. – A 27-year-old Georgia man appeared in Miami-Dade bond court Saturday after being arrested in connection with a string of residential and vehicle burglaries in Doral, authorities said.
Leer en español
Doral police said Lawrence Trevonne Young, of Fayetteville, is accused of stealing a vehicle and breaking into multiple homes and cars in the Doral Landings East community on Thursday.
According to investigators, Young entered a home through a garage door left open, while the residents were asleep, and took credit cards, personal documents, vehicle keys, laptops and other valuables.
Police also said that he stole a 2023 Kia Sportage valued at $21,000.
They said surveillance footage showed a man matching Young’s description walking through the neighborhood around 1:25 a.m., opening car doors and entering several properties.
Investigators said stolen credit cards were later used at stores including CVS and Target, with purchases totaling more than $1,000. Store surveillance and witness statements, including from an Uber driver, helped police identify Young.
Doral police confirmed the arrest of Young on Friday. At the time of his arrest, they said he was found with five credit cards belonging to two of the victims.
Jail records show Young faces charges in two separate cases, including burglary of an occupied dwelling, grand theft, and multiple counts of fraudulent use of credit cards and personal identification.
His total bond was set at $80,500 after a judge found probable cause for all charges.
The judge also issued a stay-away order, prohibiting Young from contacting five victims in connection with the incidents. He was also banned from entering the Doral Landings East community.
He is due back in court later this month.
Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.
Georgia
Obituary for Georgia Lea Couch Butler at Southern Funeral Home Winnfield

Georgia
Why Barry Odom dismissed 1 Purdue football player, added Georgia transfers with driving arrests
Purdue football coach Barry Odom on roster building philosophy
Barry Odom now has the roster he’ll take into fall camp. How did Purdue build its 2025 roster and what’s next for the Boilermakers?
Purdue Athletics Communications
- Two incoming Purdue football transfers from Georgia were suspended for driving arrests before entering their names in the portal.
- Purdue football brought in 26 transfers in the spring portal after bringing in 29 last winter.
- Odom explained how he and his staff vetted players before accepting them, and how he views second chances.
Barry Odom emphasized discipline as a bedrock principle for his Purdue football tenure.
He established it with expectations for attention and attendance at his first Boilermaker team meetings. He reinforced it with the “Winning Edge” program — grueling, up-tempo offseason workouts designed to enhance mental toughness as much or more than physical skills.
When freshman safety Antonio Parker was arrested on drug charges and other infractions weeks after arriving on campus, Odom dismissed him from the team. It sent a message about standards and expectations.
It did not, though, establish a blanket zero-tolerance policy toward players with run-ins with law enforcement.
The recent vehicle-related infractions of Georgia transfers NiTareon “Nitro” Tuggle and Marques Easley do not belong in the same legal conversation as Parker’s crime. Yet they illustrated the sometimes murky waters into which coaches must wade when rebuilding a roster via the transfer portal.
Relationships with high school recruits are built over months or years. In the portal, they sometimes come together in a matter of days. Odom said his staff does what it can to build a network of sources for all incoming players on that truncated timeline.
Our book on Purdue men’s basketball’s Final Four run makes the perfect Father’s Day gift
“We’ve all made mistakes, or I certainly know I have,” Odom said in a Thursday video interview with local media. “I think there’s education pieces that I’m responsible for. … You’ve got to decide No. 1, did he make a mistake? OK, why did he make it? Has he learned from it? Are we willing enough to have him in our program because he was issued a citation?
“I’m not the only one making those decisions. There’s a number of people that go into stamping yes or no. But we also feel like the culture, the surrounding people that we have that are part of our organization, that we’re in a position that it becomes the DNA of who we are on doing the right things and protecting the team and becoming great student-athletes at Purdue.”
Tuggle and Easley came to Purdue from a Georgia program notorious for vehicle-related legal issues.
Tuggle, a wide receiver, was arrested for speeding and reckless driving on March 19. The police report asserted he was driving 107 mph in a 65 mile-per-hour zone. In a plea deal, Tuggle pleaded guilty to speeding in exchange for dismissal of the reckless driving.
Easley, an offensive lineman, was charged with three counts of reckless conduct and one count of reckless driving after crashing his vehicle into the front of an apartment complex on March 22. According to the Athens Banner-Herald, investigating troopers said in the crash report they found evidence of “laying drag” — intentionally skidding the car.
Per online court records, Easley’s case has not reached resolution. At the time he and Tuggle entered the portal, both players had been suspended by Georgia.
According to the Banner-Herald, Georgia players or support staff members have been charged with speeding, reckless driving or racing in 32 incidents since Jan. 15, 2023. That’s the date football player Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy were killed in a high-speed crash.
Odom said his staff scrutinizes every incoming player, not merely those with a public incident in their past. They look for evidence of a love for the game. They make sure the players know the academic commitment at Purdue exceeds that expected at many other institutions.
“If all of those things align, then we know structurally they will thrive in our system,” Odom said.
Another incoming player, safety Myles Slusher, was suspended by Arkansas after a 2022 arrest for disorderly conduct. He served a one-game suspension and left the program soon after. That’s three players with public brushes with the law out of the 26 signed in the spring window.
Transferring to Purdue provided both Tuggle and Easley a chance to move closer to home, and further from Athens. Tuggle played at Northwood, located southeast of South Bend. Easley grew up in Peoria, Illinois, and played at Kankakee (Illinois) High School, located south of Chicago and about 90 minutes from Ross-Ade Stadium.
Odom said both players could make an impact quickly. The Boilermakers need playmakers, and Tuggle was a four-star, borderline top-100 prospect out of high school. The 6-foot-5, 325-pound Easley was also a four-star prospect, ranked in the top 200 per some services.
He retains four years of eligibility, while Tuggle comes with three. Odom said he’s been impressed with Tuggle’s linear speed and ability to change directions. Easley has “transformed his body” to better use his “exceptional feet.”
Those attributes show up on film. Recent events meant Odom and his staff had to be sure about their evaluation in other areas, too.
“Any time you’re going to try to recruit a young man to your campus you make sure they’re a fit in every single area,” Odom said. “And if they’re not, it doesn’t matter how good of a player you think they are. It’ll never work.”
Catch all the Star’s Purdue sports coverage with the Boiler Update newsletter.
-
News1 week ago
Video: Faizan Zaki Wins Spelling Bee
-
News1 week ago
Video: Harvard Commencement Speaker Congratulates and Thanks Graduates
-
Politics1 week ago
Michelle Obama facing backlash over claim about women's reproductive health
-
Technology1 week ago
AI could consume more power than Bitcoin by the end of 2025
-
News1 week ago
President Trump pardons rapper NBA YoungBoy in flurry of clemency actions
-
Technology1 week ago
SEC drops Binance lawsuit in yet another gift to crypto
-
Technology1 week ago
OpenAI wants ChatGPT to be a ‘super assistant’ for every part of your life
-
World1 week ago
Two killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine before possible talks in Turkiye