Energy Dept. announces billions in loans for new nuclear reactors

[Cebu_4_2]

Great news!

Energy Dept. announces billions in loans for new nuclear reactors By Laura Barron-Lopez
Share on facebook (http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/198733-energy-department-green-lights-billions-for-new-nuke-reactors#)3 (http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/198733-energy-department-green-lights-billions-for-new-nuke-reactors#) Share on twitter (http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/198733-energy-department-green-lights-billions-for-new-nuke-reactors#)20 (http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/198733-energy-department-green-lights-billions-for-new-nuke-reactors#) Share on google_plusone_share (http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300&winname=addthis&pub=ra-4e8f5d7e1bc8befe&source=tbx-300&lng=en&s=google_plusone_share&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fblogs%2Fe2-wire%2Fe2-wire%2F198733-energy-department-green-lights-billions-for-new-nuke-reactors&title=Energy%20Dept.%20announces%20billions%20in%2 0loans%20for%20new%20nuclear%20reactors%20%7C%20Th eHill&ate=AT-ra-4e8f5d7e1bc8befe/-/-/53054e3cb6009b16/2&frommenu=1&uid=53054e3c2ccf9cd2&ct=1&pre=http%3A%2F%2Freason.com%2F24-7%2F2014%2F02%2F19%2Fenergy-department-announces-loan-guarant&tt=0&captcha_provider=nucaptcha) More Sharing Services (http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/198733-energy-department-green-lights-billions-for-new-nuke-reactors#) 14 (http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/198733-energy-department-green-lights-billions-for-new-nuke-reactors#) Share on email (http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/198733-energy-department-green-lights-billions-for-new-nuke-reactors#)
15 (http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/198733-energy-department-green-lights-billions-for-new-nuke-reactors#disqus_thread)
http://thehill.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_full/public/blogs/nuclearplant_082411getty.jpg?itok=bVY9H6wy


Getty Images
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on Wednesday announced the approval of a multibillion-dollar loan guarantee for the first nuclear reactors to be built in the U.S. in nearly 30 years.

Southern Company, which received a conditional green light for an $8.3 billion loan guarantee in February 2010, will be getting $6.5 of that pot for two new reactors at its Vogtle plant in Waynesboro, Ga.


During a luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., Moniz said the department will finalize the two loans on Thursday during his visit to Georgia.

Moniz touted the new reactors as a commitment to the administration's "all of the above" energy strategy and carbon emissions goals.

"The president wants to make clear that he sees nuclear energy as a part of his carbon-free portfolio," Moniz said on Wednesday. "We are working across the board to push the technology forward into the marketplace for all of our energy sources."

The nuclear reactors would be able to supply power to about 1.5 million homes.

While nuclear power makes up roughly 20 percent of the nation's electric generation, the industry has faced an uphill climb in the past decades.

The Southern Company reactors would be the first built since the 1979 Three Mile Island incident, which resulted in the release of radioactive gases. Similarly, the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster has hurt the industry's image globally.

In the U.S., with the surge in production of cheap natural gas pushing the energy source to the forefront, nuclear power is having to find ways to compete economically.

Moniz echoed Obama's comments last month, calling natural gas a "bridge fuel" to a low-carbon future.


Tags: Southern Company (http://thehill.com/organization/southern-company), Ernest Moniz (http://thehill.com/person/ernest-moniz), Georgia (http://thehill.com/province-or-state/georgia), Nuclear reactors (http://thehill.com/social-tags/nuclear-reactors), Natural gas (http://thehill.com/social-tags/natural-gas)

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/198733-energy-department-green-lights-billions-for-new-nuke-reactors#ixzz2tomy6cSc
Follow us: @thehill on Twitter (http://ec.tynt.com/b/rw?id=bNYbpAvBir4Pxiacwqm_6l&u=thehill) | TheHill on Facebook (http://ec.tynt.com/b/rf?id=bNYbpAvBir4Pxiacwqm_6l&u=TheHill)

[mick silver]

so what do the do with all the nuclear waste ? is it clean

[Cebu_4_2]

so what do the do with all the nuclear waste ? is it clean

Yellow cake factory, energy is a byproduct. I feel safer already.

[Twisted Titan]

2 things that absolutely astound me about nuclear plants


1) In the history of the industry there has NEVER been a plant that has turned a profit .They need massive subsidies to build, maintian and decomission.

2) Do you know what the basic function of nuclear plant is ? The rods heat water that produce steam that turn turbines that make enenergy . They have turned the simple process of boiling water into a process where we create a waste that is completely undestroyable.

[Shami-Amourae]

so what do the do with all the nuclear waste ? is it clean

True. They'll probably put it in the water supply or something like that.

[mick silver]

being a smart ass , i like how they alway talk about how clean it is , right

[midnight rambler]

Well there ya go, in your face evidence that 'they' regard us all as a bunch of stupid fucking clueless rubes who don't know any better and never will - not a SINGLE mention of these new reactors being thorium reactors.

[Cebu_4_2]

Well there ya go, in your face evidence that 'they' regard us all as a bunch of stupid fucking clueless rubes who don't know any better and never will - not a SINGLE mention of these new reactors being thorium reactors.

Thorium byproducts don't explode.

[midnight rambler]

Thorium byproducts don't explode.

And there's no need to build a huge mega support industry around thorium reactors - dealing in such large sums of money no one notices a few billion here, a few billion there sliding off the edge of the table.

[ShortJohnSilver]

My guess - not based on the safe, clean thorium reactor designs.

[osoab]

True. They'll probably put it in the water supply or something like that.

Hanford

[JohnQPublic]

I do not thisnk thorium is ready for commercialization.This is unfortunate, but true.

[Twisted Titan]

Im just astounded we have yet to find a safe way to boil water.


Kinda like the same way we have yet to find a effective way to desalinate Salt Water....its easier to go to war the small fresh water reserves.

[brosil]

I talked with an employee next door about this yesterday. He said there's talk of building another reactor but they would have to pay $1 billion in taxes back to when they were originally slated to build it so the idea is still on the shelf.

[SWRichmond]

U.S. Electricity Summary
2012 2013 2014 2015
Retail Prices (cents per kilowatthour)
Residential Sector 11.88 12.12 12.39 12.62
Commercial Sector 10.09 10.29 10.43 10.59
Industrial Sector 6.67 6.82 6.89 6.93

Natural gas prices are climbing, IMO due to the fact of growing liquification and exporting leading to "globalization" of prices.