By Lindsay Potter
In a testament to the astronomical costs of new nuclear reactors, executives and public officials faced criminal charges recently in two conspiracy schemes that funneled billions of taxpayer dollars to failed or failing reactor projects. Stephen Byrne, former executive vice president of SCANA Corp., the utility behind the abandoned V.C. Summer expansion, will serve 15 months in prison for defrauding taxpayers, while former CEO Kevin Marsh was sentenced to two years. The SCANA plan to add two Westinghouse reactors cost more than $9 billion and never generated a single watt. Two Westinghouse executives, Carl Churchman and Jeff Benjamin, are facing prison. Churchman pleaded guilty to perjury, and Benjamin will stand trial in October for 16 felony charges carrying a maximum of 20 years and a $5 million fine. Meanwhile in Ohio, former Republican House Speaker Larry Householder and former Republican Party Chair Mathew Borges were convicted in March for accepting $60 million in bribes to push HB 6, a billion-dollar bailout for two reactors operated by First Energy Corp. The two intend to appeal. First Energy agreed to pay a $230 million fine as a settlement for conspiring to bribe the public officials. Householder’s campaign strategist, Jeffrey Longstreth, and lobbyist Juan Cespedes, also pleaded guilty in the racketeering conspiracy. Ohio’s Attorney General Dave Yost continues civil proceedings against First Energy. — Associated Press, March 8, 2023; Reuters, Aug. 20, 2021; Bloomberg News, July 23, 2020
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