Stone & Webster 's difficulties with constructing conventional power plants were matched by its problems in nuclear construction . By the late 1970s , the company had attained a central role in the nuclear power industry — a significant portion of all nuclear energy in the United States was being generated at plants designed and generated by Stone & Webster . In 1975 , the company had been selected to construct the Clinch River Breeder Reactor . However , increasing public opposition to the construction of nuclear plants , lengthy delays brought by challenges before public utility commissions , and corresponding increases in plant construction costs , capped by the incident at Three Mile Island in 1979 , brought about a moratorium on the construction of large nuclear plants and the cancellation of many existing orders
incident
Three Mile Island accident
Stone & Webster