nuclear-news

NUCLEAR NIGHTMARE

It is a top story this year, it was a top story in 2017 and chances are the two nuclear reactors abandoned during construction will continue to make headlines in 2019.

This year closes with state regulators approving reduced electric rates for South Carolina Electric & Gas customers, although they will still pay about $80 a year for the next 20 years for construction costs of the reactors that never generated a watt of power. But instead of parent company SCANA Corp., the checks will likely be written to Virginia’s Dominion Energy after the Public Service Commission approved a merger proposal.

As far as next year’s headlines? A criminal investigation into SCE&G executives and others continues and attention will also turn to Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility that owned 45 percent of the project and is now $8 billion in debt.

HURRICANE FLORENCE

For the third time in four years, South Carolina saw the kind of flooding that should be about a 1 in 1,000 shot in any year. In September 2018, it was Hurricane Florence, which dumped 2 to 3 feet (60 to 90 centimeters) of rain, sending rivers to record stages in the northeast part of the state.

The flooding was almost identical to October 2016’s Hurricane Matthew, with floodwaters reaching just a little higher.

Eight people died, including two mental patients locked in a police van while being driven to ordered treatment. Authorities say the two deputies in the van drove around barricades blocking flooded highways and the van overturned in water. They survived. A prosecutor is reviewing whether they should face charges.

One bit of good news: Gov. McMaster originally suggested Florence would be a billion-dollar storm in South Carolina. But by November, damage estimates in the state were down to $607 million…….. https://abcnews4.com/news/local/2018-in-south-carolina-tragedy-floods-more-nuclear-money-12-29-2018