Bloomberg News:



With a multibillion-dollar nuclear project in South Carolina dead, the fate of America’s nuclear renaissance now rests on one utility: Southern Co.

Scana Corp. dropped plans for two reactors Monday, leaving the two that Southern is building at the Vogtle plant in Georgia as the only ones under construction in the U.S. And even they are under threat: The utility had to take over management of the project from its bankrupt contractor Westinghouse Electric Co., and the plant is still years behind schedule and billions over budget. Now it must decide whether to finish them.

Southern calling it quits could prove to be the final nail in the coffin for the long-awaited U.S. nuclear renaissance that has failed to materialize in the aftermath of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear accident. In 2012, Southern and Scana became the first companies to gain approval to build U.S. reactors in more than 30 years — only to find themselves in troubling times for the industry.

On top of construction setbacks and ballooning costs, nuclear plants are reeling under intense competition from cheap natural gas and renewables that have spurred states led by New York to go as far as offering subsidies for existing reactors to keep them open.



“I have a feeling we’re going to get a similar story from Southern,” Charles Fishman, a Chicago-based analyst for Morningstar Inc., said by phone Monday. “The four-year extension of the schedule estimated by Santee Cooper, that was the eye-opening number to me. I suspect we’re looking at that kind of a delay for Vogtle, too, and if that’s the case, the overhead is just huge.”



More: Fate of U.S. Nuclear Now Hinges on One Utility in Georgia