VC Summer is considered a low point for the US nuclear industry. South Carolina utility Santee Cooper and the plant’s former co-owner, Scana Corp., halted construction on two AP1000 reactors in 2017 after costs climbed above $20 billion and Westinghouse, a contractor on the project, filed for bankruptcy. It was one of two US efforts to build the Westinghouse AP1000 reactors; the other, at the Vogtle plant in Georgia, was completed in 2024, seven years behind schedule and more than $20 billion over budget.