UPDATE 1-Southern reduces Ga. Hatch 2 reactor for test

(Updates with company comment)

NEW YORK, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Southern Co (SO.N) reduced the 883-megawatt Unit 2 at the Hatch nuclear power station in Georgia to about 62 percent by early Friday from full power early Thursday for planned tests, a company spokeswoman said.

She said the company would test fuel reliability. She could not say when the unit would return to full power due to competitive reasons.

The 1,752 MW Hatch station is located in Baxley in Appling County about 120 miles north of Jacksonville, Florida. It has two units, 876 MW Unit 1 and the 883 MW Unit 2, which entered service in 1975 and 1979.

The NRC renewed the plant's original 40 year licenses in 2002 for another 20 years until 2034 and 2038.

Unit 1 continued to operate at full power.

One MW powers about 500 homes in Georgia.

Southern operates the station for its owners, Southern's Georgia Power subsidiary (50.1 percent), Oglethorpe Power Corp (30 percent), Municipal Electrical Authority of Georgia (17.7 percent) and the City of Dalton, Georgia (2.2 percent).

Southern, of Atlanta, owns and operates more than 42,000 MW of generating capacity, markets energy commodities, and transmits and distributes electricity to nearly 4.4 million customers in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino)