The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is to increase its oversight of the Vogtle nuclear project in Georgia after finding issues in the safety related electrical cable raceway system at Unit 3.

Electrical cable raceway systems are designed and routed to prevent a single event from disabling redundant safety-related equipment in commercial nuclear power plants. These systems consist primarily of conduits and cable trays, which route and support the cables needed to ensure safety-related equipment performs its safety functions.

The NRC carried out a special inspection in June 2021 to understand the cause and extent of construction quality issues in the electrical raceway system and concluded initially that operator Southern Nuclear did not adequately separate safety and non-safety related cables for reactor coolant pumps and equipment designed to safely shut down the plant.