Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm urged electric utilities to follow in Southern Co.’s footsteps and build new nuclear power reactors during a Friday speech at the Vogtle power plant in Georgia.
“We’ve solved our greatest design challenges. We’ve stood up entire supply chains. … You all have trained thousands of skilled workers. And so, it’s time to cash in on those investments by building more,” she said.
“Southern has led the way and now we need other utilities and buyers of clean power to enlist,” she added. DOE’s Loan Programs Office “stands ready to help,” Granholm said, with hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy financing.
Despite years of delays and billions of dollars in costs overruns, the completion of Vogtle’s two new units appears to have renewed interest in building large reactors. Two new units there were the first of their kind built in the U.S.
