SC Regulators Deny Appeal Over Nuclear Reactors

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - An environmental group says it will likely ask a court to toss out permits issued by state regulators to let South Carolina’s largest private utility to build two nuclear reactors near Columbia.

The Public Service Commission on Wednesday refused a request from Friends of the Earth to reconsider its approval last month of the South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. project.

Friends of the Earth had filed the request arguing that the law regulators used to approve the project is unconstitutional. The group said SCE&G failed to demonstrate a need for the reactors or fully detail their environmental impact.

SCE&G has said it wants to have the first reactor generating power by 2016, and the second in 2019.