Santee Cooper is entering final negotiations with Brookfield Asset Management over two partially built nuclear reactors left in limbo for the past eight years.
The companies expect to reach a memorandum of understanding after a six-week period to examine resumption of construction and talk with potential power customers.
The developments announced Oct. 24 are the latest indication of the strong interest in nuclear power and are a remarkable turnaround for what had been one of the U.S. nuclear industry’s costliest failures.
Work on V.C. Summer Unit 2 and Unit 3 was halted after extensive delays and cost overruns, yielding a patchwork of reinforced concrete and mothballed equipment at a cost of more than $9 billion. Four executives eventually went to prison for their misdeeds in the project, the last of them in November 2024.
In January, spurred by the renewed interest in nuclear power’s steady emissions-free power, Santee Cooper put out a request for proposals for sale of the project. (See Santee Cooper Seeks Buyer for Unfinished Nuclear Project.)
The state-owned public power and water utility said it received more than 70 initial expressions of interest and 15 formal proposals. Its board of directors approved the letter of intent with Brookfield on Oct. 24.
The centerpiece of the deal is the two partially built Westinghouse AP1000 reactors. Their combined 2.2-GW rating is a potentially lucrative asset in an era of rising electricity demand and higher electricity costs.
Importantly, Santee Cooper maintained the equipment already on site during the eight years it sat idle.
“The state of the units, and the fact that they use the same Westinghouse AP1000 technology that is now operating in Georgia and overseas, make these assets very attractive to the nuclear power industry,” Santee Cooper CEO Jimmy Staton said in the news release.
Westinghouse will continue to be involved in the completion of the two reactor units, Staton said. Brookfield is majority owner of Westinghouse.
Of interest to ratepayers — who had to help foot the bill for what became known as Nukegate — the Brookfield deal is built on private funding.
“Brookfield came to Santee Cooper with a proposal that set out the path to turn our prior nuclear investment into lasting value for our customers and all South Carolinians,” said Santee Cooper Board Chair Peter McCoy.
“Our goals include completing these reactors with private money and no ratepayer or taxpayer expense, delivering financial relief to our customers and gaining significant additional power capacity for South Carolina. Brookfield’s proposal would do just that, and the company has the financial capability to stand behind its proposal.”
