Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017
The plug has been pulled on nuclear projects in the Southeast. Billions were spent, and customers could still be on the hook. Guest host David Boraks looks at the future of nuclear.
This was supposed to be a new era for nuclear powerin the U.S., and the Southeast was to be on the forefront. New nuclear reactors were either being constructed or on the drawing board.
One such project is about 80 miles south of Charlotte at the V.C. Summer plant in South Carolina. Two new reactors were proposed a decade ago, but after ballooning costs and changes in the nuclear landscape, construction was brought to a halt in late July.
The dominoes continued to fall when Charlotte-based Duke Energy canceled a pair of proposed nuclear plants in upstate South Carolina and Florida.
What will this mean for the nuclear sector, and the customers who shouldered the cost of the unraveling nuclear comeback?
This program originally aired Sept. 4, 2017
GUEST HOST
David Boraks, WFAE environmental reporter (@davidboraks)
GUESTS
Avery Wilks, government reporter, The State (@AveryGWilks)
Scott Batson, Duke Energy, senior vice-president of South Carolina nuclear operations
Sara Barczak, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, high risk energy director (@SaraBarczak)
Kit Konolige, Bloomberg Intelligence, senior utility industry analyst