GLOBAL CLIMATE DEBATE

Southern Co. to Receive First Nuclear Loan Guarantee

 President Barack Obama has announced that Southern Company will receive the first loan guarantee for a new nuclear plant at its Vogtle station in Burke, Georgia.

Obama made the announcement today while visiting the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Lanham, Maryland.  

He traveled there to make remarks on energy jobs and to mark the first anniversary of the Recovery Act.

FIRST-EVER NUCLEAR LOAN GUARANTEE

Congress authorized the nuclear loan guarantees in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to help private utilities get the multi-year financing needed, but this will be the first guarantee granted.

It will be contingent upon Southern's acquisition of a license from the NRC. That license has been undergoing NRC review for two years and will take at least one more year.

Southern plans to build two new 1,100-megawatt Westinghouse units at the site.  The project is expected to be the first nuclear power plant to break ground in nearly three decades.

Cost estimates range from $7 to $14 billion, and the project is expected to employ some 3,500 workers over a five-year construction period.  Site preparation has already begun.

The Vogtle site already hosts two 1,200-megawatt reactors.

ENERGY REMARKS

The President first toured a training center at the IBEW Local 26 Headquarters.   Training at this facility includes applications that are useful for many clean energy and low carbon technologies, including the construction of nuclear power plants. 

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu accompanied the President on the tour.

Following the tour, the President spoke to an audience of electrical contractors, local and labor leaders, energy stakeholders, and elected officials.