Thread: First new U.S. nuclear power plants in 30 years

Feb 16, 2010

Obama announces $8B loan guarantee for first U.S. nuclear power plant in 30 years

11:15 AM

President Barack Obama today announced an $8.3 billion loan guarantee to build the first U.S. nuclear power plant in nearly three decades.

Obama, touting the project as a job producer, made his remarks at a job training center in Lanham, Md.

The loan guarantees will be used to build and operate a pair of reactor in Burke County, Ga.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... 30-years/1

Feb 16, 2010

Obama urges new round of nuclear power plants

10:55 AM

By MANDEL NGAN, AFP/Getty ImagesRisking a confrontation with anti-nuclear activists, President Obama just announced his administration will provide more than $8 billion in loan guarantees to help build a nuclear power plant in Georgia.

The anticipated announcement, made to union electricians and others at a job training facility in Lanham, Maryland, begins to fulfill a pledge the president made in his State of the Union address, his budget and in a meeting with the nation's governors this month to recharge the nuclear energy industry after a 30-year hiatus.

"We're going to have to build a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in America," Obama said. "This is only the beginning. My budget proposes tripling the loan guarantees we provide to help finance safe, clean nuclear facilities."

The budget would add $36 billion to an existing $18.5 billion in available loan guarantees, for a total of $54.5 billion. Federal regulators are reviewing applications for 22 plants to be built in the next two decades.

Oval colleague Julie Schmit reported earlier this month that bigger loan guarantees could be a "tremendously positive development for our nation," according to Marvin Fertel, CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute. But Kert Davies, research director for Greenpeace, calls it "a dangerous way to solve global warming."

Another Oval colleage at USA TODAY, Eugene Kiely, notes that money for the loan guarantees was stripped from the $862 billion stimulus bill that Obama signed almost exactly one year ago following objections from liberals and environmentalists.

Obama acknowledged the objections in his remarks this morning. "What I want to emphasize is this: even when we have differences, we cannot allow those differences to prevent us from making progress," he said. "On an issue which affects our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, we can't keep on being mired in the same old stale debates between the left and the right."

Here's another sampling of the president's remarks:

I know it has long been assumed that those who champion the environment are opposed to nuclear power. But the fact is, even though we have not broken ground on a new nuclear plant in thirty years, nuclear energy remains our largest source of fuel that produces no carbon emissions. To meet our growing energy needs and prevent the worst consequences of climate change, we'll need to increase our supply of nuclear power. It's that simple. This one plant, for example, will cut carbon pollution by 16 million tons each year when compared to a similar coal plant. That's like taking 3.5 million cars off the road.

But what about nuclear waste? In his budget, Obama also proposed eliminating funds for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste facility in Nevada, home of embattled Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid. His solution now? Create a bipartisan commission to figure out what to do -- similar to his prescription for solving the federal budget deficit.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... r-plants/1