CRANBERRY TWP — More than 100 employees based in Westinghouse's headquarters are being furloughed.

Sarah Cassella, Westinghouse spokesman, said about 870 employees were furloughed as a result of the owners of the V.C. Summer nuclear project in South Carolina abandoning construction. About 125 of the 870 are based in Cranberry, she said.

Westinghouse employs more than 2,200 people at its Cranberry headquarters and 4,500 in the region.

“We have decided to place employees affected by SCANA's project closure decision on furlough as the company works through business impact,” Cassella said.

The furloughed employees will retain their benefits and employment status during the temporary furlough period, Cassella said.

SCANA Corp., parent company of South Carolina Electric & Gas Company, and Santee Cooper both announced July 31 that they would cease construction at the V.C. Summer nuclear site, which had been mired by delays and cost increases. The utilities commissioned Westinghouse to build two power plants at the site in Jenkinsville, S.C., several years ago.

After Westinghouse's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on March 29, SCE&G and Santee Cooper began a “comprehensive process of evaluating the most prudent path forward for the units,” SCANA said in a statement.

“SCE&G concluded that completion of both units would be prohibitively expensive,” SCANA said.