Produced by:
KBOO
Program::
Air date:
Thu, 02/25/2010 - 12:00am
Nuclear Loan Guarantees
The US Department of Energy has announced that it is ready to guarantee more than eight billion dollars in loans for the first nuclear power plant to be constructed in decades.
The project would involve building two additional reactors in Georgia that generate two point two gigawatts of power.
The guarantees are contingent upon the Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing a new reactor design.
The authorization for the loan guarantees dates back to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which was intended to encourage technologies that avoided emission of greenhouse gasses.
So far, however, the majority of the money from the program has gone to wind, solar, and energy storage companies.
This will be the first time the program is used to promote the construction of a nuclear plant. It's also the first time the US has constructed a nuclear plant in over thirty years.
KBOO’s Chris Andreae spoke with Vanessa Pierce with Heal Utah about the implications of the nuclear loan guarantees:
- KBOO
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