Regulator Approves Southern’s Reactors as Chairman Dissents

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved Southern Co.’s application for the first licenses to build reactors in more than 30 years, with the chairman’s dissenting vote sparking new controversy over whether safety upgrades are needed after Japan’s 2011 disaster.

The split vote mars the start of a new atomic era as Southern builds the first U.S. nuclear reactor from a standardized design that promises to speed construction and reduce risks of runaway costs that plagued nuclear development during the 1970s and 1980s.