DOE Approves $6.5 billion in Loan Guarantees To Vogtle Nuclear Plant

Vogtle Construction Site

The Energy Department plans to grant final approval this week of $6.5 billion in loan guarantees for two nuclear reactors under construction in Georgia by a consortium led by Southern Company.

The money is part of an $8.3 billion package of loan guarantees that the federal government conditionally approved in 2010.

The reactors will be part of the Vogtle electricity generating facility outside of Waynesboro, Ga., where two nuclear reactors already operate. 
The overall cost for the new reactors at the Vogtle site is estimated at $14 billion.

The loan guarantees show that the White House is committed to the "all of the above" energy policy that President Barack Obama touted in his State of the Union speech last month.  The strategy, which includes natural gas, oil, coal, solar and renewable fuels.  (WSJ, 2/18/2014)