WASHINGTON--The Energy Department plans to grant final approval
this week of $6.5 billion in loan guarantees for two nuclear
reactors under construction in Georgia by a consortium led by
Southern Co.
The money is part of a $8.3 billion package of loan guarantees
that the federal government conditionally approved in 2010. The
reactors won regulatory approval in 2012--the first nuclear power
plants to clear the approval process since 1978, a year before the
accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz plans to announce the loan deal at
a speech at the National Press Club in Washington on Wednesday,
according to two people familiar with the project.
Spokesmen for Southern and the Energy Department declined to
comment.
The reactors will be part of the Vogtle electricity generating
facility outside of Waynesboro, Ga., where two nuclear reactors
already operate.
The loan guarantees show that the White House is committed to
the "all of the above" energy policy that President Barack Obama
touted in his State of the Union speech last month, said a person
familiar with the project.
The strategy, which includes natural gas, oil, coal, solar and
renewable fuels, has raised concerns among some environmental
groups who want Mr. Obama to focus on renewable energy such as
solar and wind power. Friends of the Earth said they are opposed to
building nuclear power plants because such energy sources can
contribute to climate change.
The overall cost for the new reactors at the Vogtle site is
estimated at $14 billion. The remaining $1.8 billion in loan
guarantees may be completed soon, a person familiar with the
project said.
Write to Alicia Mundy at alicia.mundy@wsj.com
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