US Government Issues Loans for the First Nuclear Reactors in 30 Years Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will travel to Waynesboro, Georgia on Thursday to issue approximately $6.5 billion in loan guarantees for two new nuclear reactors at the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant . The reactors will be the first new nuclear facilities constructed in the U.S. in about three decades. The terms of the loan agreement were tentatively offered to Southern Company in 2010, but low natural gas prices, the Fukushima nuclear meltdown and a lack of a federal carbon policy have hampered nuclear power. The loan guarantee was also sidelined by Solyndra’s bankruptcy , which rattled the DOE loan program. Since becoming the head of the U.S. Department of Energy, Moniz has repeatedly talked about small modular reactors , pointing to their benefits in terms of cost and security. Last year, the DOE issued about $250 […]