Operations: homegrown expertise matters.

The evolution of nuclear energy--from discovering uranium to exploring the atom to identifying the neutron--can be viewed as a progression of important events. The science of atomic radiation and nuclear fission was developed from 1895 to 1945.

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Within that time came one of the most important events, the launch of the Manhattan Project in 1939, when the nation's best minds came together to develop the atomic bomb. From 1945 through the 1950s, during the Cold War, the focus was on using the energy for naval propulsion and electricity. From the late 1950s on--despite stagnation in the industry from the late 1970s to about 2002--attention has been given to developing the technology to run nuclear power plants.

South Carolina was at the forefront of the power revolution, with the ground breaking of the first commercial nuclear power plant in the Southeast at Parr. S.C., in 1960. Rhonda O'Banion, spokeswoman for Cayce-based SCANA, says the Parr Nuclear Station was the first U.S. heavy-water power reactor, and it became the prototype for other reactors used to generate civilian power. "The knowledge we gained about how to operate a nuclear power plant continues to bear fruit even today."

Parr closed in 1967, but other reactors soon came online in South Carolina, including seven light-water pressurized reactors--three at the Oconee plant in Seneca; two at the Catawba plant in Clover; one at the Robinson plant in Hartsville; and one at the V.C. Summer plant in Jenkinsville, just a stone's throw from the old Parr facility. Today, V.C. Summer is the location for one of the newer, more efficient reactors.

And again, in keeping with the state's leadership in the nuclear renaissance, it will be among the first reactors built in the country in three decades. "V.C. Summer Unit 1 has been in commercial operation since 1984, producing almost 175 million megawatts of net generation during this time." O'Banion says. "That's enough to provide energy for more than 500,000 homes each year."

SCANA. through its subsidiary S.C. Electric & Gas, is a majority partner in the new Summer reactors. For it and Santee Cooper, which owns 45%, the investment is all about meeting customer needs for energy well into the future in a way that is safe, clean, reliable, proven and affordable.

And customer need is on the rise. According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, electricity generated by nuclear plants in the United States rose tenfold from 1970 to 2009...