By Ryan Tracy OF DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Monday that he expected a loan guarantee for Southern Co.'s (SO) new nuclear reactor to "to close and go forward" now that the company has received a construction and operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Chu said "there a number of other milestones" for the company to meet, but said the NRC's decision was "wonderful" and in line with the Obama administration's belief that nuclear power should be part of the U.S. energy mix in the 21st century. "We expect that one to close and go forward," Chu said of Southern's loan guarantee during a press conference on the administration's budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins in October. The company and its partners got preliminary approval for an $8.3 billion loan guarantee about two years ago. It is building two new reactors at the existing Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia. -By Ryan Tracy, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9245; ryan.tracy@dowjones.com
