Mar. 29--BLAIR -- Felicia Trower came here Saturday looking for answers to questions she had about SCE&G's plans to add two reactors to the local nuclear plant.

Trower wanted to know if the public's health would be in greater danger if two more reactors are built. She also wanted to know about evacuation plans in the event of an accident, as well as whether a medical clinic would be built to handle potential injuries.

After spending about two hours at an information session hosted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Trower and her 10-year-old granddaughter, Rachael, were headed out the door.

"They've been able answer all of my questions," said Trower, a lifelong Blair resident. "Maybe not totally satisfactorily, but they gave me the answers that they had."

Trower and about 100 other area residents braved Saturday's storms to attend the question-and-answer event at McCrorey-Liston Elementary School on State Road 215, about 10 miles northwest of the nuclear plant in Fairfield County.

Investor-owned South Carolina Electric & Gas Co., headquartered in Columbia, and its state-operated partner, Santee Cooper, are seeking permission from the federal agency to build and operate two more reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville.

The utilities, which operate a 966-megawatt reactor unit at the plant, plan to spend $9.8 billion on two 1,117-megawatt units.

Saturday's meeting was a way to find out what area residents are concerned about as far as health and safety issues, said Roger Hannah, agency spokesman.

The agency is in the early stages of drafting an environmental impact statement that will be part of the public record when the five-member commission considers the utilities' application to build and operate the new reactor units.

A draft of the environmental statement is due in April 2010. A final decision on the application is at least three to four years away.

Agency staffers held two public meetings in January to find out from residents what questions need to be answered regarding safety and public health issues.

At the meetings, some residents complained that they needed more information about nuclear power, the kind of reactor units that would be built and health risks.

So the agency decided to return, hosting an informal open house.

On Saturday, NRC staffers sat at six tables that ringed the school's gymnasium to answer questions on topics such as radiation health, the licensing process and how the agency monitors a nuclear plant's operation.