SCANA and Santee Cooper File Letter of Intent with NRC

From the Post-Courier (Charleston, SC):

Scana Corp. and Santee Cooper, the electric utilities that serve the bulk of South Carolina, are rushing to get federal approval to build a nuclear power plant just north of Columbia.

The utilities filed a letter of intent with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Dec. 6. And they expect to spend up to $8 million in the coming months to join a coalition of utilities pursuing nuclear power and hire a contractor to oversee the process of winning government approval.

Scana and Santee Cooper agreed in August to consider a new plant, but the real estate boom and an influx of new residents pushed their timetable forward.

"Look here now, we need a unit in 2012 and we need another in 2015," said Bill McCall, Santee Cooper's chief operations officer. "You don't need to look at the numbers long to realize that."

For our post made in the wake of an earlier announcement, click here. To learn about nuclear sentiment in South Carolina in Duke Power's service area, click here.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy, Energy, Technology, Economics, South Carolina, Santee Cooper, SCANA, Duke Power