Shaw Group, Westinghouse get go-ahead on new nuclear units in S.C.

South Carolina Electric & Gas has given The Shaw Group and Westinghouse full notice to proceed on an engineering, procurement and construction contract for two nuclear power units and related facilities at V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville, S.C. Owned by SCE&G and Santee Cooper, the project received approval from the South Carolina Public Service Commission in February 2009, and further license approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March 2012. The Shaw and Westinghouse contract—the value of which has not been disclosed—was announced in May 2008. The two nuclear units to be installed will be Westinghouse AP 1000 reactors. “Shaw’s leadership in the nuclear industry, coupled with Westinghouse’s AP1000 technology, will deliver the world’s most advanced, emission-free power plant to V.C. Summer,” says J. M. Bernhard, Shaw’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, in a prepared statement. Shaw and Westinghouse are currently building four new nuclear units in the United States, with two units each at V.C. Summer and Southern Co.’s Plant Vogtle—also in South Carolina—and with two more units under contract for Progress Energy in Florida. The projects represent the first contracts awarded in nearly 30 years for new nuclear builds. Shaw also is providing engineering, procurement, commissioning, information management and project/construction management services for four AP1000 nuclear units currently under construction in China.