SCE&G helps build clean energy future for South Carolina.

• Position: POWERING THE FUTURE

In early March. South Carolina Electric & Gas Company completed placement of the nuclear island basemat for V.C. Summer Unit 2 in Fairfield County. This major milestone was the first new construction nuclear concrete to be poured in the United States in three decades. Since then, SCE&G. co-owner Santee Cooper, and consortium partners Westinghouse Electric Co. and Chicago Bridge & Iron have forged ahead with one of the state's largest construction projects. The following is a highlight of the two-reactor project as it has progressed during the past year.

With about 1,600 workers on-site and components steadily arriving, progress continues on both Units 2 and 3. The project will provide between 3,000 and 3,500 well-paying jobs at the peak of construction. Once completed there will be about 800 full-time employees in addition to the approximately 800 workers currently employed at V.C. Summer Unit 1, which has been safely and reliably operating for more than 30 years.

The first of the two new units is anticipated to begin operations in late 2017 or early 2018. With the addition of both units, SCE&G's generation production will be roughly 60% non-greenhouse gas emitting. SCE&G will achieve a balanced generation portfolio--about 30% nuclear, 30% natural gas, and 30% scrubbed coal--giving the company the flexibility to take advantage of whatever generation option makes economic sense for its customers.

In late May SCE&G placed the 900-ton containment vessel bottom head for Unit 2 using the Heavy Lift Derrick, the world's largest crane. Work continues on other sections of the containment vessel, which will house the reactor. The containment vessel is assembled in five sections: the bottom head, followed by three rings and then the top head.

When complete, this massive component, which is fabricated from one and three-quarter-inch carbon steel plates, will weigh about 4,000 tons and stand more than 200 feet with a 130-foot diameter.

The deaerator for Unit 2 arrived from Korea to the Port of Charleston, S.C., on April 30. It was offloaded to a heavy-haul transporter and...