Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant

The Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant is an incomplete energy project 10 miles (16 km) outside Gaffney, South Carolina, United States.

[1] An uncertain economy, stringent federal regulations on nuclear plants, and a decrease in electrical use caused Duke Power to abandon the site in the early 1980s.

The Nuclear Steam Supply System (NSSS) for each unit was planned to be a pressurized water reactor manufactured by Combustion Engineering, Inc.

[2] By 1988, Earl Owensby, a Shelby, North Carolina, businessman, had converted the former energy complex into a movie studio.

Cameron decided to use Cherokee Nuclear Power plant facility to film the underwater sequences involving the submerged drilling rig.

The turbine pit, which was a large irregularly-shaped structure, was modified to hold 2.2 million US gallons (8,300 m3) of water.

The water depth and length of time spent submerged meant that the cast and crew had to endure decompression treatments.

Duke planned to develop the site for two Westinghouse Electric Company AP1000 (advanced passive) pressurized water reactors.