Toshiba Corp. on Dec. 1 said that it shipped the condenser for the 1,154 MWe Vogtle Unit 3 AP1000 nuclear power plant that is being constructed for Georgia Power, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southern Co (NYSE: SO). The condenser is the first shipment from Toshiba of a major component for a new generation of nuclear energy plants under construction in the U.S. The condenser of a nuclear energy plant is a key component that condenses the steam used to drive the turbines and generators back into water.

In April 2008, Westinghouse Electric Co., Toshiba's subsidiary, was awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract to provide two AP1000 nuclear energy plants for Southern Co.'s Vogtle Units 3 and 4. The condenser destined for Vogtle Unit 3 was designed by Toshiba and, with the provision of technical and quality control support by Toshiba, manufacturing was consigned to BHI Co. Ltd, a Korean engineering company. Toshiba will supply the condenser for Vogtle Unit 4 as well.

Vogtle unit 3 is scheduled to start operation in 2016 as the first AP1000 in the U.S.

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