Nuclear Loan Guarantees Should Be Doubled -US Energy Secretary

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Federal loan guarantees for new nuclear power plant construction should be at least doubled to allow construction of four to five additional plants, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said late Thursday.

If Congress were to approve this, companies such as Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) and Progress Energy Inc. (PGN) could be among the beneficiaries of the new loan guarantees.

Chu, in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, said additional nuclear power plant loan guarantees would help rejuvenate a domestic industry and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Although companies have submitted 18 new nuclear power plant license applications to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy only has authority for $18.5 billion, enough for four to five plants.

“If you really want to restart the American nuclear energy industry in a serious way…we [need to] send signals to the industry that the U.S. is serious about investing in nuclear power plants,” Chu said on the sidelines of a conference here.

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