Updated at 5:36 p.m. EST.

The Obama administration's proposed fiscal 2013 budget doesn't seek additional federal loan guarantees for new nuclear plants, but it does request more funding for improving the safety of U.S. reactors in the light of Japan's nuclear disaster last year.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu told reporters today that the administration continues to support development of nuclear power, but that the private-sector needs to invest in new plants.

Economic factors such as competition facing nuclear energy from inexpensive natural gas are sure to affect those decisions, he said.

"We believe, as we've said quite often, that nuclear energy is part of the energy portfolio in this century," he said. "But in the end, it's going to be a financial decision."

The administration currently has $18.5 billion in authority for nuclear loan guarantees and has committed but not finalized $8.33 billion for Southern Co.'s two nuclear reactors at the Vogtle nuclear power plant complex about 170 miles east of Atlanta.

Chu applauded the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's approval last week of a license for Southern Co. to build the $14 billion reactors in Georgia. Construction at the site could begin as soon as the license is issued, and Southern has said it is finalizing the details around a conditional loan guarantee (Greenwire, Feb. 9).

NRC's approval of the Vogtle reactors is a positive step, and the administration expects "that one to close and go forward, but there are a number of other milestones," and other companies may not choose to build nuclear power plants, Chu said.

"In the end, it depends on the private sector, whether they're going to make the investments," he said. "This is something one can't really predict."

David Blee, executive director of the U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council and a former DOE deputy assistant secretary of Energy, said the budget request was stale and did not show leadership in developing new types of reactors.

The Obama administration did ask for $65 million to support development of small modular reactors, but that was a decrease from the current spending level of $67 million, he pointed out. The money is part of DOE's request for $452 million over five years to develop a pair of designs for the miniature reactors.

Nuclear safety, waste

The administration and NRC did step up its funding request for nuclear safety and finding more permanent solutions to managing nuclear waste.

NRC is seeking more than $1 billion in its fiscal 2013 budget, an increase of $15 million from the current spending level.

The commission recovers most of its budget authority through fees from applicants who are seeking or hold licenses.

About $10 million is directly tied to NRC's efforts to implement an internal task force's recommendations stemming from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Three reactors at the Japanese plant were crippled by a magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami last March, triggering radioactive leaks and multiple evacuations.

NRC officials said during a call with reporters today that the money will facilitate rulemakings, including enhancements for vents at boiling water reactors, improving instrumentation on spent fuel pools and reanalyzing the risks of earthquakes and floods to nuclear power plants.

Some rulemakings may also pertain to bolstering staffing an multi-unit disasters and ensuring that plant operators can continue to cool plants if power is lost for extended periods of time.

NRC is also seeking almost $265 million for new reactors, including overseeing the construction of six new reactors during fiscal 2013: two reactors at the Vogtle plant, two reactors at the V.C. Summer project in South Carolina, one reactor at Watts Bar in Tennessee and another unit at Bellefonte Nuclear Plant near Nashville, Tenn.

The commission also plans to conduct pre-application permitting of three small modular reactors during the next fiscal year.