Two Reactor Units Approved For SC

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"Scana Corp. (SCG) won U.S. approval to build nuclear reactors, the second construction permit issued by regulators in more than 30 years for units that may be among the nation’s last erected this decade.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission today voted 4-1 to approve the Cayce, South Carolina, company’s plan to construct and operate two units at its Virgil C. Summer plant, about 26 miles (42 kilometers) northwest of Columbia. Chairman Gregory Jaczko dissented, citing pending safety rules in response to Fukushima Dai-Ichi disaster in Japan.

“I continue to believe that we should require that all Fukushima-related safety enhancements are implemented before these new reactors begin operating,” Jaczko said in his vote.

Scana, which submitted its application to the NRC in March 2008, will pay 55 percent of the estimated $10.2 billion cost of the project. Santee Cooper, South Carolina’s largest power producer, is responsible for the remainder.

The reactors are among five units that may be built in the U.S. before 2020, as a glut of natural gas has discouraged investment in other types of generation, including nuclear power. Scana’s first unit won’t be operational until 2017, about a year behind schedule, because of delays in the NRC’s licensing process, the company said yesterday in a statement"
 
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