New reactors are to be part of a Southern Company expansion of an existing nuclear facility near Augusta, Georgia
– By Stephen Heiser –
President Obama finally announced $8.3 billion in loan guarantees today for two nuclear reactors to be built at Plant Vogtle in Burke County, Georgia. The nuclear industry has been abuzz about the pending announcement for weeks. This annoucement follows on the heels of the President's support for nuclear power in his State of the Union address.
The new reactors are to be part of a Southern Company expansion of an existing nuclear facility near Augusta, Georgia. The loan guarantees will help create 3,500 on-site construction jobs and 850 permanent operations jobs, administration officials said. The reactors will help provide power to over 550,000 homes and 1.4 million people.
"This is only the beginning," Obama said during a visit to an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers training facility in Lanham, Maryland. "We'll continue to provide financing for clean energy projects … across America. The fact is, even though we have not broken ground on a new nuclear plant in nearly 30 years, nuclear energy remains our largest source of fuel that produces no carbon emissions," Obama said.
"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." Any new nuclear facilities, he promised, will "be held to the highest and strictest safety standards."
Obama's proposed fiscal year 2011 budget triples loan guarantees for nuclear power plants to over $54 billion, the White House noted.