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How many nuclear reactors would it take to power Atlanta?

Scenario estimates of how many reactors of various sizes would be required to cover the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell, GA metro's annual electricity demand — and what it would take with other power sources.

Population
6,482,182
Annual electricity demand
88,070,861 MWh
Primary state
GA

Reactors needed to power Atlanta

Switch between reactor sizes. Each tab shows the count, the icon grid scaled to that count, and rough capital cost bands. Default view is large reactors — the fewest, biggest units.

Reactors needed
10
× 1,117 MWe units
93% capacity factor

Conventional gigawatt-scale plants like the AP1000 deliver firm baseload power with the smallest land footprint per MWh of any source. Build times are 7–12 years for first-of-a-kind delivery; the largest tradeoff vs alternatives.

Capital cost (rough)
Mid: NREL ATB 2024 · High: delivered Vogtle/NuScale
$78.2B$111.7B$167.6B
Find out more about large reactors →Try the compare tool

Atlanta's current energy usage

Where the metro's grid actually gets its power today, and how its electricity demand has trended over the last 25 years.

Today's grid mix
eGRID 2023 subregion SRSO — SERC South
55% Natural gas
largest source · 2023
Natural gas 55.4%
Nuclear 20.4%
Coal 14.5%
Solar 3.6%
Other 3.6%
Hydro 2.4%
Oil 0.1%

Replacing the fossil portion (70% of generation) with nuclear would avoid roughly 25,963,730–42,723,174 tons of CO₂ per year for this metro's share of demand. Range uses EPA eGRID 2023 Total Output rate (low) and Non-baseload rate (high) for SRSO. See methodology.

Annual electricity demand
GA state total — all sectors
+30.4%
2001 → 2025
050M100M150M200M200120052010201520202025

What it takes to power Atlanta with alternative energy sources

Same annual MWh as the reactor scenarios — just translated to other source archetypes. Variable sources (solar, wind) include a firm-equivalent figure for storage-backed 24/7 power. Switch tabs to compare.

Utility solar farm (100 MW DC)
403
units · 100 MW each
≈ 100.8M panels (≈400W each)
Firm equivalent (with storage)
1,008–2,612
Units needed for round-the-clock firm power equivalent to one baseload reactor. Range covers oversizing + storage + curtailment modeling (NREL Standard Scenarios + Lazard LCOE+LCOS).
Land
378 sq mi
Capacity factor
25%
CO₂ (annual)
Zero
Per MWh CO₂
0 lb

Variable output. Raw count assumes same annual MWh; firm equivalent accounts for storage and oversizing needed for 24/7 power.

Find out more about utility solar farm →Compare side-by-side

All sources, scaled to Atlanta

Every source overlaid on the metro outline at true scale. The visual gut-check on land use: nuclear's footprint nearly disappears against firm-equivalent renewables.

All sources, scaled to Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta

Each colored square shows the land area a single source would need to cover this metro's entire 88.1 TWh of annual electricity demand — drawn at the same scale as the metro outline below it. Solar and wind use firm-equivalent capacity (with storage) per NREL Standard Scenarios.

Onshore wind
2,380 sq mi · 27.4% of metro
Utility-scale solar PV
393 sq mi · 4.5% of metro
Nuclear · Large Reactor
13.0 sq mi · 0.15% of metro
Coal-fired plant
10.6 sq mi · 0.12% of metro
Natural gas (combined cycle)
1.5 sq mi · 0.02% of metro
Local resource: Moderate solar; weak onshore wind; some regional hydro (TVA, Southern Co.).
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Data provenance

Demand basis
GA state per-capita × metro population (v2 methodology, 2025 basis year)
Demand period
historical state trend: 2001–2025
Population source
U.S. Census Vintage 2025 estimates
Reactor cost basis
NREL ATB 2024, with widened bands for FOAK uncertainty
Grid mix source
EPA eGRID 2023 (subregion SRSO)
Source comparisons
Hardcoded archetypes — see methodology page

These figures are screening-level scenario estimates. They are not forecasts, project proposals, or permitting determinations.