Vogtle and VC.Summer nuclear projects extend agreements (US)

The developers of the Vogtle and VC Summer nuclear projects in the United States, respectively Georgia Power (Southern Company) and South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G), have extended the interim assessment agreements with Westinghouse, which will allow work to continue at the sites (until 12 May at Vogtle and until 26 June at Summer). During this time, the parties will continue to work on finalising a new service agreement which would, if necessary, assure that Westinghouse continues to provide design, engineering and procurement services to Southern Nuclear as a part of their assumption of control over construction management.



In late March 2017, Westinghouse (part of the Toshiba group) filed for bankruptcy and listed assets of US$4.3bn and liabilities of US$9.4bn among about 35,000 creditors. The company is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for both the Vogtle and VC Summer projects in the United States and assumes full responsibility for all AP1000 projects and the nuclear integrated services business. The company has been hit by financial setbacks from the projects (additional costs of US$4bn).



Under the interim assessment agreements, the project owners will pay all costs and administrative claims accrued by Westinghouse during the assessment period (around US$5.4m per week for the continuation of EPC services) and will review the options for continuing the projects.



SCE&G started the construction of the two AP reactors rated 1,117 MW each on the site of the existing VC Summer-1 (971 MW net) that was commissioned in 1984. The construction started on both units in 2013 but in March 2015, SCE&G delayed by six months the completion of construction works. The completion of units 2 and 3 is now expected in 2019 and 2020. Two other AP1000 reactors rated 1,117 MW each are also under construction at Vogtle and are expected to be commissioned in 2019 and 2020, respectively.