4th person charged in South Carolina nuclear project failure

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A fourth business executive faces criminal charges stemming from a federal investigation into a failed multibillion-dollar project to build two nuclear reactors in South Carolina. An indictment filed Wednesday shows Jeffrey A. Benjamin is accused of multiple felony counts of fraud and conspiracy. Benjamin is a former executive at Westinghouse Electric Co., the lead contractor to build two new reactors at the V.C. Summer plant. Two utilities spent nearly $10 billion on the project before halting construction in 2017 following Westinghouse’s bankruptcy. Authorities say Benjamin repeatedly lied to the utilities about how far behind schedule and over budget the project was.