SCANA Corp. and Santee Cooper extended an interim agreement with Westinghouse Electric Co. to allow work to continue on the V.C. Summer nuclear power plant project.

SCANA is project's majority owner and Santee Cooper is South Carolina’s state-owned utility. Together, they are assessing whether to take control of the project from Westinghouse or possibly abandon it altogether.

(Read "Westinghouse Nuclear Files for U.S. Bankruptcy Protection.")

Construction photo from September 2016.South Carolina Electric & Gas Co., principal business unit of SCANA, and state-owned Santee Cooper, are building two 1,117-megawatt nuclear electric-generating units at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Fairfield County, S.C. V.C. Summer Unit 1 has been in commercial operation for more than 30 years.

Westinghouse is the design and construction contractor. Fluor Corp. is the construction manager.

The extension continues through June 26 and is subject to bankruptcy procedures related to Westinghouse's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. The agreement allows for a transition and evaluation period, during which South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. and Santee Cooper can continue to work at the site. Fluor will remain in its current role, and the project’s co-owners say they will continue to make weekly payments for work performed during the interim period.

A statement says the agreement extension "allows the co-owners additional time to maintain all of their options by continuing construction on the project, while examining all of the relevant information for a thorough and accurate assessment to determine the most prudent path forward."