SCE&G Places First AP1000 Steam Generator in the U.S.

South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G), principal subsidiary of SCANA Corporation and V.C. Summer Nuclear Station co-owner, Santee Cooper, placed on Jan. 10 the first steam generator at a Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear plant in the U.S.

The steam generator weighs approximately 1.5 million pounds, measures 20 feet in diameter, and is more than 80 feet long. It is one of two steam generators required for V.C. Summer Unit 2, which is currently under construction. Steam generators transfer heat from the reactor to convert water into steam.

One of the world’s largest cranes, a heavy lift derrick that stands approximately 560-feet tall, was used to lift and set the large component.

When the steam generator arrived from South Korea at the Port of Charleston, it went on record as one of the heaviest energy project shipments for the South Carolina Ports Authority. Careful coordination among many highly skilled experts was required to offload the steam generator from a cargo ship onto a specialty railcar designed to transport heavy, oversized loads.

SCE&G and Santee Cooper are building two 1,117-megawatt Westinghouse AP1000 reactors in Fairfield County, S.C. Westinghouse is the contractor, and Fluor is the construction manager. Progress toward a clean, reliable energy future continues. Once the two units are complete, SCE&G anticipates that more than 60 percent of its generation will be non-emitting.