After Westinghouse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, there are questions about the fortunes of nuclear units 1 and 2 which are under construction and already behind schedule.
WINNSBORO – After Westinghouse, the primary contractor for the two new V.C. Summer nuclear units, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New York last Friday, options for continued construction of the units appear dim to grim. However, Fairfield County Administrator Jason Taylor told The Voice in an interview on Tuesday that, as far as the County is concerned, everything is moving forward for the present time.
“We’ve heard all the rumors that everyone else has heard,” Taylor said, “but SCANA has kept us informed. We were told that Westinghouse would be declaring bankruptcy and that Fluor (Daniels) would be coming in to take over construction of the two new units from Westinghouse. We were told that while we would be hearing that large numbers of workers are being layed off from time to time, that’s normal because as one job, like welding, is finished, many more workers are hired for concrete work or another job.”
Information released Tuesday by the S.C. Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) listed some of the options being considered under a written plan being formulated by ORS. Those options include:
-continue with the construction of both new units;
-focus on construction of one unit and delay construction of the other;
-continue with construction of one unit, abandon the other and seek recovery of the abandoned unit;
-abandon the construction of the project.
Taylor conceded that the significance of the bankruptcy on the County’s future could loom huge.
“We’ll continue on. It (delayed or discontinued construction) will not devastate us as far as our continued operations. But it would have a huge impact on what we plan moving forward. Those nuclear reactors are critical to our citizens for jobs and to our tax base,” Taylor said. “We are very sensitive to all of this. The new units are critical to the future of Fairfield County.
“We don’t want to lose any business, but especially not this one. With the agreements we have in place, the units have a big impact on the County’s future,” Taylor said. As for our planning process going forward, we’ve thought a lot about going in certain directions with our current budget. If those units were to go away, we would have to change our focus. Right now, we’re looking to plan projects and growth based on revenue that will be coming from the nuclear power plants.”
The two new units were originally expected to come on line in 2017 (unit one) and 2018 (unit two.) Last year SCANA announced that the first unit is now not coming on line until 2021 and no date is set for the third unit. It was reported in The State newspaper that the project is $4 billion over budget and years behind schedule.
Still, Taylor looks to the bright side.
“The revenue from those units will allow our us to do a lot of things – we could pay off the GO bonds, invest in infrastructure. It’s all affected by revenue,” Taylor said. “We’re always concerned about economic development in general. It’s our largest industry, so it concerns us when things aren’t going as positively as we hoped they would. But, for now, we have no reason to think anything is going to change,” Taylor said. “Not from what SCE&G has told us.”
An interim agreement between Westinghouse, SCE&G and Santee Cooper was filed with the New York Bankruptcy Court as part of the bankruptcy filings and approved on March 30. That agreement allows work to continue on the units during the transition period which has initially been set at 30 days according to a statement from ORS.
“This agreement with Westinghouse allows progress to continue to be made on-site while we evaluate the most prudent path to take going forward,” said SCANA Chairman and CEO Kevin Marsh. “Fluor will continue as the construction manager during this period and they will continue to work towards completion of the units.”
