Energy Department Announces Loan Guarantee Worth Billions For Nuclear Reactors

Two loans worth $8.3 billion and $6.5 billion

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on Wednesday announced the approval of a multibillion-dollar loan guarantee for the first nuclear reactors to be built in the U.S. in nearly 30 years. 

Southern Company, which received a conditional green light for an $8.3 billion loan guarantee in February 2010, will be getting $6.5 of that pot for two new reactors at its Vogtle plant in Waynesboro, Ga. 

During a luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Moniz said the department will finalize the two loans on Thursday during his visit to Georgia. 

Moniz touted the new reactors as a commitment to the administration's "all of the above" energy strategy and carbon emissions goals.