The US Nuclear Regulator Commission (NRC) has issued licences to Duke Energy for the construction and operation of two nuclear power units at its proposed William States Lee III station in South Carolina, NRC said in a 21 December statement. Duke is considering building two Westinghouse AP1000 units at the site of the partially-completed Cherokee NPP. In the early 1970s, Duke Power started construction of a three-reactor NPP at the site. However, the project stalled in face of economic difficulties in the early 1980s. The units would still require state-level approvals. Duke Energy owns and operates six NPPs with 11 reactor units - Brunswick (2 units), Catawba (2), Harris (1) McGuire (2), Oconee (3) and Robinson (1). A seventh station, the single-unit Crystal River, was shut down permanently in 2013.
