WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The Trump administration is providing $17.5 billion to speed the development of 10 new large nuclear reactors to meet the skyrocketing power demand from massive data centers.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright cited 鈥渢remendous interest鈥� among developers of data centers that would buy the power, as well as utilities and energy companies. The nuclear plants could begin construction by 2030 and become operational in the mid-2030s, Wright and other officials said Tuesday.
鈥淭his is the start,鈥� Wright said on a call with reporters. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to move with the players that are ready to stand up and move quickly. Once that supply chain is up and running, do we think there will be dozens of these built going forward? I鈥檇 be very surprised if there were not.鈥�
Most U.S. nuclear power plants were built between 1970 and 1990. have been built from scratch in the United States in recent decades. Those two reactors, at Georgia Power Co.鈥檚 Plant Vogtle, were completed years late and billions of dollars over budget. The 10 new reactors will use the same design, Westinghouse鈥檚 AP1000.
Wright said the Plant Vogtle project struggled because of bad planning, supply chain problems and the COVID-19 pandemic. But, he said, the reactor design is 鈥渞obust and sound.鈥�
鈥淏y building in volume and at multiple locations, we think we will create and stand up a large supply chain and build a lot of construction expertise,鈥� Wright said. 鈥淲e expect the timing and cost of these plants to well outperform what was done on Vogtle.鈥�
Seven utilities and energy companies signed letters of intent that identified sites, the Energy Department said. The agency plans to pick five, which would host two reactors at each site. The federal financing would be used to purchase nuclear components with long lead times, and are not construction loans.
The department declined to name the utilities involved or the states they are in, calling it premature until the selections are made. It did not give a timeline for making those selections.
President Donald Trump set a goal of quadrupling domestic production of nuclear power within the next 25 years, and he has to speed development. The administration is working to advance new nuclear technologies, .
Dan Sumner, president and chief executive officer of Westinghouse, said industrialized nuclear power needs to be built at fleet scale, in order for the United States to lead in artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and the industries that will define the next century.
Critics of building more nuclear reactors say they鈥檙e too expensive and riskier than other low-carbon energy sources. Several states restrict or ban new nuclear power plant construction.
Travis Fisher, director of energy and environmental policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute think tank, said the Energy Department has the authority to issue these loan guarantees, but he doesn’t think the executive branch should be so heavily involved in the electricity sector.
If the past is any indication, the next administration will use similar authorities to favor a different set of energy resources, he added. “Remove the state barriers and the federal favoritism and let companies build the power plants that pass the market test,鈥� Fisher wrote in an e-mail Tuesday.
in 2024, a share that could nearly triple by 2028, according to government estimates. Some analysts predict nationwide electricity use to rise as much as 20% in the next decade, with data centers a big reason.
The Energy Department said the loans could speed up the development of these 10 reactors by up to three years and lower construction costs. Its goal is for all 10 to be under construction by 2030, to start providing power in the mid-2030s.
The utilities and Westinghouse will be expected to contribute up to $5 billion in equity in total across the five, two-reactors projects. Wright said his department provides up to $17.5 billion in loans, or $3.5 billion per project, in debt to pair with the equity. He said it’s 鈥渧ery, very low risk to the American taxpayers.鈥�
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McDermott reported from Providence, R.I.
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