By Tim Profeta , Duke University / The Conversation

In late December 2017, the Georgia Public Service Commission faced a major decision: whether to cancel construction of two nuclear power reactors at Plant Vogtle, near Waynesboro, which had been plagued by delays and escalating costs.

Earlier in the year, utilities in South Carolina abandoned work on two reactors that also were behind schedule and over budget. Vogtle is now the only large-scale nuclear construction underway in the United States.