A Higher Price Tag for a Nuclear Project The flagship project of a hoped-for but not-yet-realized "nuclear renaissance," the Vogtle 3 and 4 reactors under construction near Augusta, Ga., may cost about $900 million more than had been estimated, the Southern Company said in a filing this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company, which is building the reactors with a consortium of utilities, said the problem arose from delays in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's approval of a design certification document from the manufacturer, Westinghouse, and of a combined construction and operating license. "Issues have arisen that may impact the project budget and schedule," Southern said. Cost and schedule are very tightly related because interest costs accumulate on the money already spent. Southern said that the consortium building the plants, which includes its subsidiary Georgia Power (45.7 percent) as well as Oglethorpe Power (30 percent), the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (22.7 percent) and Dalton Utilities (1.6 percent), is in negotiations to determine the extent of the cost overrun and how it will be shared. A total cost is hard to arrive at because each partner is likely to have different borrowing costs, but it is in the range of $14 billion. A coalition of antinuclear groups that is challenging the project in court issued a press release with the headline "We Told You So."" Other companies are meanwhile closely watching the venture, which could help them decide whether to proceed with plans for their own nuclear projects. In April the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said that some of the steel reinforcing bars used in the concrete in Unit 3 were installed in a way that differed from the plan it had approved. It has not yet said what should be done about that. As a first-of-a-kind project, the Vogtle 3 and 4 reactors have been promised substantial federal aid, including a loan guarantee. The guarantee was contingent on winning a license. Although the builders have had the license in hand for three months, they have not yet come to a final agreement with the Energy Department on the loan guarantee. There is no official word on the reason, but there is industry speculation that the consortium may do just as well by borrowing on the commercial market.