First new nuclear reactors OK'd in over 30 years The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the construction of two new reactors at Georgia's Vogtle plant. It's the first new construction license for a reactor granted in over 30 years. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved licenses to build two new nuclear reactors Thursday, the first authorized in over 30 years. The reactors are being built in Georgia by a consortium of utilities led by Southern Co. ( SO , Fortune 500 ) They will be sited at the Vogtle nuclear power plant complex , about 170 miles east of Atlanta. The plant already houses two older reactors. "Today marks an advancement in our nation's energy policy," Southern Company chief executive Thomas Fanning said at a press conference after the approval. "The project is on track, and our targets related to cost and schedule are achievable." The 5-member NRC voted in favor of the licenses four to one, with Chairman Gregory Jaczko dissenting. Jaczko said the new licenses don't go far enough in requiring the builders to incorporate lessons learned from the Japanese nuclear disaster last year. Although new nuclear reactors have come online in the United States within the last couple of decades -- the last one started operation in 1996 -- the NRC hasn't issued a license to build a new reactor since 1978, a year before the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania. Reactors that have opened in the last decades received their initial licenses