Duke, Southern Pick Site for Nuclear Plant

Duke Power Co. and Southern Co. have selected a site in South Carolina for a potential nuclear power plant, which would be one of the first ordered in the U.S. in more than 30 years.

Duke Power, the electric utility subsidiary of Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy Corp., will be the developer and licensed operator of a potential plant co-owned by Atlanta-based Southern, both companies said.

Duke Power chief nuclear officer Brew Barron estimated the cost of building the new plant to be $4 billion to $6 billion. The utilities expect to file an application to build the plant with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in late 2007 or early 2008, Duke Power said.