Scana-owned South Carolina Electric & Gas Company and Santee Cooper have submitted an application with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a combined construction and operating license for up to two nuclear electric generating units in South Carolina.
The construction and operating license (COL), once approved, will authorize the companies to build and operate up to two nuclear electric generating units at the utilities’ existing VC Summer nuclear station site in Jenkinsville, South Carolina.
Development of a COL application for the new nuclear facilities began in early 2006. Now that the application has been filed, the NRC will begin an approximate three-to-four year review process and could issue the combined license in 2011.
Construction could begin shortly thereafter, subject to approval from the South Carolina Public Service Commission, with an in-service date as early as 2016 for the first unit. The South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G) and Santee Cooper estimate that baseload generation will be needed for both utilities at this time.
Kevin Marsh, president of SCE&G, said: Filing the application does not commit our two utilities to build, but is the logical next step as we move forward with our efforts to bring new electric generation onto our system around 2016. Its a clean, safe, non-emitting generation choice that will ultimately result in a significant reduction in emissions for our state.