Two new AP1000 reactors planned for South Carolina’s Virgil C. Summer plant received environmental approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers Tuesday.
The federal agencies granted the proposed units 2 and 3 a final environmental impact study that concludes the reactors will have no substantial environmental impact. The FEIS paves the way for the NRC to compile its safety evaluation report, present the plans to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards and eventually to commission members for a final vote on the units’ combined licenses.
South Carolina Electric and Gas and Santee Cooper applied for the licenses in 2008. If granted, and if the Westinghouse AP1000 design is approved in a separate process, the new units will join the single 966 megawatt pressurized water reactor currently operating at the site near Columbia, S.C.