SCANA Corp. (NYSE: SCG) and subsidiary South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) have released a seven-minute YouTube video on the approval and ensuing construction of the V.C. Summer nuclear plant units 2 and 3.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved the additional two nuclear units on March 30. “Now we can start building the reactors,” said a SCANA spokesperson who hosted the documentary-style video.
Prior to the final NRC approval, SCANA and partner Santee Cooper, South Carolina’s state-owned utility, had been doing site clearing and building roads and other infrastructure to serve the new reactors in Fairfield County, S.C.
During the video, SCANA CEO Kevin Marsh and other managers provide a brief summary of the NRC approval and SCANA’s plans for building the new reactors.
Once constructed, the two units will generate a combined 2,200-MW and ultimately help make the SCE&G generating fleet about 60% non-emitting, company officials said.
Before the NRC gave its final approval in December 2011 to the AP 1000 reactor design that will be used at Summer 2 and 3, Westinghouse had to show that the facility could withstand an airplane crash, SCANA said in the video.
SCANA officials say there are probably 1,000 workers now on-site. That workforce will eventually swell to between 3,000 and 4,000, according to the SCANA video. The Shaw Group (NYSE: SHAW) is acting as the primary contractor for the two new Summer units.
SCANA’s license approval for the new Summer units came on the heels of the NRC’s approval earlier this year of construction of Vogtle nuclear units 3 and 4 in Georgia. The Vogtle units are being built by a group led by Southern Co. (NYSE: SO) subsidiary Georgia Power.
NRC licenses for the Vogtle and Summer projects represent the first new nuclear plant licenses issued in the United States in more than 30 years.
A link to the video is provided.
