DOE Announces $17.5 Billion Loan Initiative to Accelerate U.S. Nuclear Reactor Deployment

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced $17.5 billion in conditional loans designed to bolster the commercial supply chain for nuclear reactors. According to Energy Secretary Chris Wright, this initiative aligns with President Donald Trump’s executive order to strengthen the domestic nuclear industrial base and spark a new “American nuclear renaissance.”

“To accomplish that mission, these conditional loans will play an important role in reviving the supply chain needed for America to once again build large-scale commercial reactors,” Wright stated. He noted that the program could accelerate construction timelines by up to three years, reducing overall costs and supporting the administration’s ambitious energy goals.

The Energy Department aims to expedite the development of new commercial nuclear reactors through this conditional loan program. (Fox News)

Administered by the Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF), the loans are intended to meet the administration’s target of having 10 new large nuclear reactors with completed designs under construction by 2030. The funding will support five eligible projects sponsored by utilities and energy companies, with each loan facilitating the deployment of two reactors per project site.

Westinghouse, the provider of the API1000 units—the only licensed large-scale commercial reactors currently operating in the U.S.—will partner with these companies to procure critical long-lead items at fixed prices. These long-lead items include complex components such as steam generators and reactor vessels, which typically require significant manufacturing and delivery time.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright speaking during a panel, noted that more than half a dozen utilities and energy companies have expressed interest in the program. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images, File)

Under the program’s terms, each project will be jointly owned by Westinghouse and its utility partner. Both entities must commit $500 million in upfront equity—totaling $1 billion per project—before accessing the federal loan funds. This structure addresses long-standing investment hurdles in the nuclear sector, where high capital requirements, regulatory complexities, and potential cost overruns have historically made nuclear energy a riskier investment compared to natural gas or renewables.

The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant is expected to return to operation in the coming years. (Heather Khalifa/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File)

Secretary Wright indicated that the program has drawn significant interest from energy companies and “hyperscalers”—the tech giants operating massive cloud and computing infrastructures. This interest is driven by the surging demand for electricity required to power artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Wright confirmed that seven utilities have expressed interest, though their identities and locations remain undisclosed.

The administration’s objective is to quadruple U.S. nuclear capacity to 400 gigawatts by 2050. This is an aggressive target, particularly as previous domestic projects faced multi-year delays and billion-dollar cost overruns. However, Wright expressed confidence that the current strategy will “well outperform” the experience of the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia, which was financed via the Loan Programs Office during Trump’s first term.

Additionally, three previously shuttered plants—Palisades in Michigan, Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, and Duane Arnold in Iowa—are currently on track to resume operations in the near future.

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