Employees safely return Plant Farley's Unit 1 to service following planned refueling and maintenance outage

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., April 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Unit 1 of the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant near Dothan, Ala., has resumed generating electricity after a scheduled, successful refueling and maintenance outage. The 25-day outage was completed safely and efficiently.

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Electricity production resumed today at 12:42 a.m. CT.

During this outage, regular refueling, maintenance and testing took place, and workers performed upgrades to the plant systems and components. Each unit at Plant Farley requires refueling every 18 months.

Also during the outage, Plant Farley's Unit 2 continued to safely generate electricity.

"We achieved our number one priority for this planned outage, to execute all work with a relentless focus on safety," said Tom Lynch, Farley site vice president. "I attribute our success to the dedication and commitment of excellence by Southern Nuclear employees, our partners and contractor employees. Unit 1 will now continue to produce safe, reliable electricity for our customers for the next 18 months."

About Southern Nuclear:
Southern Nuclear, a subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), is one of the nation's leading nuclear energy facility operators. Producing safe, reliable and environmentally friendly nuclear energy, Southern Nuclear operates a total of six units in Alabama and Georgia at the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant near Dothan, Ala.; the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant near Baxley, Ga., and the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant near Waynesboro, Ga. Southern Nuclear is the licensee of two new nuclear units currently under construction at Plant Vogtle, which will be the first nuclear units constructed in the United States in more than 30 years. Southern Nuclear employs more than 3,500 skilled and dedicated professionals who are committed each day to nuclear and personal safety and the health and safety of the public. The company's headquarters is based in Birmingham, Ala. Twitter: @SouthernNuclear.

About Southern Company:
With 4.4 million customers and more than 42,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast. A leading U.S. producer of electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are below the national average. Southern Company was named the World's Most Admired Electric and Gas Utility by Fortune magazine in 2011, and is consistently listed among the top U.S. electric service providers in customer satisfaction by the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Visit our website at www.southerncompany.com.

SOURCE Southern Company