The debate over nuclear power in recent months has revolved around taxpayer backed loan guarantees for new nuclear projects. Not only has the President announced $8.3 billion in federal loan guarantees for a two-reactor project in Burke County, Georgia, his budget proposal includes tripling the nuclear loan guarantee program from $18.5 billion to over $54 billion. Unfortunately, some groups have used this debate to disguise their anti-nuclear agenda in anti-loan guarantee rhetoric. The basic construct of their argument is that nuclear energy is so risky and so expensive that using …
President Obama announced $8.3 billion in federal loan guarantees today to commence projection construction on two nuclear reactors in Burke County, Georgia. This is good news. Congress has authorized $18.5 billion in loan guarantees for nuclear energy projects under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which also provided other subsidies for nuclear power to help mitigate the effect of decades of regulatory risk for approximately the first six nuclear reactors built in the U.S. While the administration should be applauded for finally getting this program off the ground and getting …
President Obama reaffirmed his willingness to expand the commercial nuclear energy in the United States when he said in his State of the Union address that we should be “building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country.” He backed it up by including an additional $36 billion in loan guarantees to nuclear energy projects. On top of the $18.5 billion allotted under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005), the total amount in loan guarantees now stands at $54.5 billion. Is this good or …
Congressional conferees reportedly stripped the $50 billion energy loan guarantee authorization from the final version of the stimulus package. Although most emissions-free sources would have been eligible for the program, removing it disproportionately affects large capital projects like nuclear energy. While this is viewed as a set-back from many in the nuclear industry, it could be used as an opportunity to address some of the structural problems that create the risk that loan guarantees are meant to off-set. The reality is that the federal government’s schizophrenic association with commercial nuclear …
