DOE Offers Another $3.7 Billion in Loan Guarantees for Vogtle Project
Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in a statement that the “future of nuclear energy in the United States is bright” as his agency on September 29 announced another $ 3.7 billion in loan guarantees for continued construction of two new nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle in Georgia.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has guaranteed another $ 1.67 billion to Georgia Power, $ 1.6 billion to Oglethorpe Power, and $ 415 million to three subsidiaries of the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia. The money is in addition to $ 8.3 billion already guaranteed by the DOE to support construction of the two AP1000 reactors at the plant near Waynesboro, Georgia. The long-delayed project to add two new units to the two existing reactors at Vogtle has been plagued by construction problems and cost overruns; the current timeline to complete construction is now near the end of 2022. Analysts say the cost for the project will go well above $ 20 billion.…