The new coronavirus has infected several more workers on Georgia Power’s nuclear expansion of Plant Vogtle, described as the largest construction project in the state.
The utility’s parent, Southern Company, cautioned investors last week that the multi-billion-dollar project’s latest timeline and costs could be disrupted by the pandemic. The work already is years behind scheduled and billions over budget, problems that developed long before COVID-19.
Georgia Power said Friday that a total of six of the roughly 9,000 workers assigned to the project have been confirmed to have COVID-19. It had reported the first confirmed case there less than a week ago.Nearly 170 other workers are under quarantine because they were in close proximity to workers who had pending COVID-19 tests, company spokesman John Kraft wrote in an email to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
That project is years behind proving it isn’t essential. If they had shut down for a few weeks, they wouldn’t have hundreds in quarantine today. Were they at the very least taking temperatures at the beginning and end of every shift? Doubt it.