News bites: Delays, cost woes hit new nuclear projects

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on delays and cost overruns facing construction of the nation’s first new nuclear reactors in decades.

From the story:

Despite promises from the nuclear industry to regulators and consumers that they learned from mistakes of the past, the nation's first two nuclear reactor projects built from scratch in 30 years are headed toward hundreds of millions of dollars in cost overruns and months, if not years, of delays.

The impact of the early delays and budget increases at Georgia Power's Plant Vogtle and South Carolina Electric & Gas's Plant Summer will have on future nuclear projects is unclear.

BP settles with OSHA over safety violations at its Texas City refinery, paving the way for the sale of the plant. Reuters has the story.

The New York Times has the latest on utility giant Duke Energy’s “boardroom coup” in its merger with Progress Energy.

Reuters reports that heavier-than-expected Arctic ice will likely delay Shell’s controversial plan to drill off Alaska’s coast until August.