Utilities Grapple With Financing Hurdles As Nuclear Renaissance Sees Bumpy Start

摘要

The Department of Energy hopes to announce in a few weeks the first recipients of $18.5 billion in federal loan guarantees to support the first large-scale construction of new commercial nuclear reactors in the United States in almost 30 years.rnWhile a federal loan guarantee will provide a form of insurance for up to 80 percent of the project cost, electric utility executives say financing the $6 billion to $8 billion price tag of a single new reactor represents a bigger challenge than the technical and political hurdles.rnAt most, the current loan guarantee program will enable three or four reactors to be built.rnWhile politicians are calling for massive government support to build 100 new reactors over the next 20 years, double the current fleet, the industry is looking more cautiously at six to eight reactors over the next decade.