The University of South Carolina and Westinghouse Electric Company have signed an agreement to create a workforce development program supporting deployment of AP1000 pressurized water reactors. The memorandum of understanding was signed at the Third Annual South Carolina Nuclear Summit, hosted by the Palmetto Nuclear Coalition in Columbia on September 28 and 29.
The program will be based at the Nuclear Innovation Center that the university's Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing plans to open, a project the school has placed in its fiscal year 2028 budget. The center is to focus on workforce development, applied research, advanced construction and manufacturing methods, the digital economy, and innovation and investment in South Carolina.
The partners are exploring a training facility that serves every workforce discipline needed for large-scale deployment of new nuclear plants. Capabilities under discussion include digital AP1000 simulators that recreate a plant control room for operators and university students, hands-on construction labs for craft and maintenance training, and a multidisciplinary certificate program for mechanical, electrical, industrial and civil engineering students. The labs would also test digital work packages, wearables, augmented and virtual reality tools and AI-enabled execution methods.
University president Michael Amiridis said the school looks forward to building workforce education opportunities for its students as it plans the center. US Deputy Secretary of Energy James Danly said investments in workforce development support new nuclear construction and the domestic supply chain.
In a related announcement the same week, the New York Power Authority approved $10 million for nuclear workforce programs in that state. The Westinghouse partnership places South Carolina among several states tying university programs to new reactor construction.
Source: ANS Nuclear Newswire - https://www.ans.org/news/2026-09-30/article-8447/university-of-south-carolina-teams-up-with-westinghouse-on-workforce-development/