Westinghouse Loans Put Nuclear Reactor Construction At Risk
According to Reuters, the owners of one of the first new U.S. nuclear power plants in decades said the half-finished reactors might not be completed without changes to a proposed $800 million loan to the bankrupt builder, Westinghouse Electric Co LLC. A unit of Toshiba Corp, Westinghouse has asked a U.S. bankruptcy judge in Manhattan to allow it to borrow up to $800 million from affiliates of Apollo Global Management LLC to stay afloat.
Georgia Power announced on April 28th that they and Westinghouse have extended the interim assessment agreement that will allow work to continue at the site through May 12. During this time, the parties will continue to work on finalizing 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.
Georgia Power will continue work to complete its full-scale schedule and cost-to-complete analysis and actively work with the Georgia Public Service Commission and the Co-owners (Oglethorpe Power, MEAG Power and Dalton Utilities) to determine the best path forward for customers. The company will continue to take every action available to hold Westinghouse and Toshiba accountable for their financial responsibilities under the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement and the parent guarantee.
SCANA Corporation and South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G)—two of the owners of the V.C. Summer nuclear plant expansion are also addressing the Westinghouse bankruptcy. In prepared remarks to the South Carolina PSC on April 12, SCANA and SCE&G chairman and chief executive officer Kevin Marsh observed that “Westinghouse’s announced goal in bankruptcy is to isolate its other businesses from new nuclear plant construction,” with the other businesses being such lines as nuclear fuel and plant services, which are all profitable. He added, “For that reason, we anticipate that any plan to complete the units will include Westinghouse in some capacity, but not as a leader role as construction manager.” – See more at:
Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy in March, citing billions of dollars of cost overruns at two nuclear power plants it is constructing in Georgia and South Carolina.
Sources: NASDAQ.com, SCANA, Georgia Power, Forbes, Westinghouse, Reuters
