3rd guilty plea in South Carolina nuclear project failure

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – A former official for the contractor hired to build two South Carolina nuclear reactors that were never completed has pleaded guilty to lying to federal authorities. Court records show Carl Churchman entered the plea Thursday. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he’s sentenced. Churchman was the project director for Westinghouse Electric Co., the lead contractor to build two new reactors at the V.C. Summer plant. Two utilities spent nearly $10 billion on the project before halting construction in 2017 following Westinghouse’s bankruptcy. Authorities say Churchman lied to an FBI agent in 2019, saying he wasn’t involved in communicating the project timeline with utility executives. He was interviewed again last month and admitted lying.