Dive Summary:

• Utilities have retired four nuclear reactors at three power plants since October 2012. The loss of nearly 3,600 megawatts (MW) in capacity amounts to the first major hit to the nuclear industry since a wave of retirements in 1998.
• Declining profitability and costly maintenance and repair costs continue to drive nuclear plant retirements, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Tuesday. Retirements include two reactors at Southern California Edison’s San Onofre plant and units at Dominion Resources’ Kewaunee Power Station, and Duke Energy’s Crystal River nuclear plant.
• But the loss of nuclear capacity from retirements will be offset by the construction of five nuclear reactors boasting a combined capacity of more than 5,600 MW.

From the article:
“During 2012, the NRC issued combined operating licenses for four new nuclear reactors at two plants: Vogtle, units 3 and 4 in Georgia, and Virgil C. Summer, units 2 and 3 in South Carolina. The four reactors have a total capacity of almost 4,500 megawatts and are now under construction, with target dates for completion between 2016 and 2018.”