, Columnist
Nuclear Power May Need to Get Small
Maybe it's time to let the smaller players have a say in the U.S.'s energy future.
Bigger is not always better.
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With the bankruptcy this week of Westinghouse Electric Co., the future of big nuclear power plants in the U.S. isn't looking good at all. But maybe, just maybe, there is hope for something smaller.
Westinghouse, which was acquired by Japan's Toshiba Corp. in 2006, has been building the only nuclear power plants currently under construction in the U.S.: two in Georgia for Southern Co. and two in South Carolina for Scana Corp. Huge cost overruns on those projects are what landed the company in bankruptcy court.