POWERGRAMS

5 Plant Farley record stellar five years after Fukushima As the world reflects on the fifth anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in Japan, Alabama Power's Plant Farley continues its exemplary safety record. Plant Farley, featuring two generating units on the Chattahoochee River near Dothan, has had a sterling safety record since the facility came online in 1977. "Our employees have maintained safety as the focus in everything they do," said Rick Gayheart, general manager of fleet operations for Southern Nuclear, which operates the facility for Alabama Power. "All the activities we perform at the site place a high value on safety: nuclear safety, radiological safety and industrial safety." Gayheart notes the plant has gone more than three years without a recordable injury; a phenomenal record for a power plant with more than 900 employees. In March 2011, an earthquake off the coast of Japan spawned a tsunami producing a 45-foot tidal wave, swamping the Fukushima plant about 180 miles north of Tokyo. The facility lost cooling capabilities and four units suffered a meltdown and radiation release. It has been chronicled as the worst nuclear event since Chernobyl in 1986 in the Ukraine. Gayheart said while Farley and many U.S. nuclear plants were originally designed to handle events like Fukushima, the industry has looked to what it labels "beyond design credible events." "Farley employees have contemplated events that were not considered in the original design of the plant," Gayheart said, "and have taken measures to ensure the plant will continue to be safe, and the public is protected in the extremely unlikely occurrence of unexpected events similar to what happened in Japan. Making preparations to handle these types of events will continue to be a focus area for Farley." Specific upgrades at Plant Farley to manage "beyond design" events include: • More connections for additional portable plant cooling • Portable electrical power supplies and connections • Satellite communications. "This equipment is maintained ready to use and stored in a hardened building ready to deploy," Gayheart said. Named after former Alabama Power CEO Joseph Farley, construction began in 1970. The two units generate 1,800 megawatts of electricity, which is usually about 22 percent of Alabama Power's total output. The 900 employees include engineers, mechanics, control room operators, laboratory technicians, instrument and control technicians, and security officers. Farley's license granted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was extended in 2005 for another 20 years. Gayheart attributes the good safety record, in part, to employees having a "questioning attitude" in "all activities." "If any worker or supervisor raises a concern, the job is stopped until the question is resolved," Gayheart said. SAFETY By Gilbert Nicholson Plant Farley opened in 1977.

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