Final Executive Sentenced in Proposed Nuclear Plant Disaster
A federal court sentenced Jeffrey Alan Benjamin (right) on Nov. 21 to one year and one day in prison for his part in a failed nuclear power project. Photo credit: screenshot from video coverage by WLTX.
The sentence comes after Benjamin pleaded guilty on Oct. 20, 2023, to providing false information that contributed to the failure of a planned nuclear construction project in Jenkinsville, S.C.
Benjamin was the senior vice president of the New Plants and Major Projects section of the Westinghouse Electric Company, the primary contractor of the nuclear construction project, according to the DOJ press release. Benjamin directly oversaw the company’s new nuclear projects worldwide and was in charge of supervising Westinghouse’s design and construction of two nuclear power plants during the V.C. Summer project in Jenkinsville, S.C.
Westinghouse was contracted to two utility companies, SCANA and Santee Cooper, for the project, according to the indictment. The three companies signed onto the $9.8 billion project in May 2008, with SCANA using the tax incentives of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to help with cost. SCANA would receive $1.4 billion if the project were completed by Dec. 31, 2020.
The Base Load Review Act allowed SCANA to raise unity rates for consumers, but SCANA had to justify its actions and obtain permission from the Public Service Commission, according to the indictment.
From the beginning of the project, there were delays due to negotiations in cost that forced the completion dates back by thirteen months, which Benjamin was informed of in September 2015, according to the indictment. Westinghouse took complete control of the project on Jan. 1, 2016, and hired Flour Enterprises, a global construction and engineering firm, to complete the project.
Benjamin understood that the project needed to be completed by Dec. 31, 2020, for SCANA to get the tax incentive, prosecutors say. Despite this, Westinghouse, under Benjamin’s direction, limited Flour’s access to necessary data for the project, causing more delays.
On Aug. 5, 2016, SCANA called a meeting to confirm that the project would be completed by the deadline, which Benjamin confirmed in the conference, according to the indictment. However, Benjamin and other executives of Westinghouse and SCANA were aware that the project was not on track to finish in time.
In September 2016, Benjamin assured the SCANA and Santee Cooper investors that the project was on schedule despite Flour giving him a completion date in 2022, according to the indictment. However, Westinghouse’s site director sounded the alarm, noting that the project was unrealistic. Westinghouse, looking to debunk the claim, not only confirmed it but discovered that there would be a $6 billion loss for the company.
On Feb. 14, 2017, Benjamin and the other executives, after leading the companies and investors on with false information, admitted on an owner call that they had suffered a $6.3 billion loss but were still able to complete the projects by the deadline, which was untrue, according to the indictment.
On March 14, 2017, however, Benjamin was fired from his position. Westinghouse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 29, 2017. On July 30, 2017, SCANA and Santee Cooper abandoned the project altogether.
Westinghouse settled a suit of $21.25 million for its part in the scheme
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