U.S. Government Announces $17.5 Billion in Loans to Strengthen Nuclear Energy Supply Chain

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2026/06/25 09:25:33

(Central News Agency Washington, June 24, Reuters) The U.S. Department of Energy announced today that it will provide $17.5 billion (approximately NT$557 billion) in conditional loans to utilities and energy companies for the procurement of parts to strengthen the U.S. commercial nuclear energy supply chain.

Reuters reported that U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told reporters that the loan will help the United States achieve its goal of starting construction on 10 large nuclear reactors by 2030, and potentially advance that timeline by three years.

The U.S. nuclear energy industry has struggled to attract investment because nuclear energy projects are capital-intensive, prone to cost overruns, and subject to complex regulations, making them riskier than lower-cost, faster-to-deploy alternatives like natural gas and renewable energy.

The loan will help companies procure critical equipment such as reactor pressure vessels and steam generators, which typically take years to obtain; the loans are also expected to shorten the construction time for large AP1000 nuclear power plants.

Wright pointed out that these loans have attracted strong interest from hyperscale data center operators, i.e., tech giants and energy companies that manage global cloud and computing infrastructure, as the rapid expansion of data centers required for artificial intelligence (AI) functions leads to a surge in U.S. electricity demand.

"We are confident that these projects will be economically beneficial for utility shareholders, electricity consumers, and hyperscale data center operators," Wright said.

Several months ago, the Department of Energy announced an $80 billion agreement with the owners of Westinghouse Electric, namely Canada-based Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management.

Under this agreement, the government will arrange financing and assist in obtaining licenses for Westinghouse reactors in exchange for a 20% profit share in the future.

The Department of Energy's Office of Energy Dominance Financing (formerly the Loan Programs Office) will support up to five loans, each financing two Westinghouse reactors with a generating capacity of 1.1 GW (Gigawatts) per site.

Westinghouse Electric will partner with up to five utilities and energy companies nationwide, which will procure reactors and other "long-lead time" supply chain needs at a fixed price.

Wright stated that seven utility companies have expressed interest, but did not disclose their names or project locations. Each project will be jointly owned by Westinghouse Electric and the utility or energy company, and both parties must commit $500 million before the Department of Energy funds are utilized.

Trump's goal is to quadruple U.S. nuclear power generation to 400 GW by 2050. This is an ambitious target, given that the most recently built reactors in the U.S. were delayed by seven years and exceeded their budgets by billions of dollars. (Compiled by Li Pei-shan) 1150625

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