Obama to propose over $54 billion in nuclear power loan guarantees

The White House fiscal year 2011 budget request to be rolled out Monday will propose roughly tripling the federal loan guarantees available for building new nuclear power plants, an administration official said Friday.

The proposal to make over $54 billion available follows Obama’s push in the State of the Union address Wednesday for a bipartisan deal on energy and climate policy that includes an expansion of nuclear power.

Obama reiterated his support for nuclear power in remarks before a meeting of House Republicans in Baltimore Friday.

In the Senate, Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) are trying to negotiate a compromise climate and energy bill that they say would include new federal backing for reactor construction.

The nuclear industry has lobbied hard for Energy Department loan guarantees far in excess of the $18.5 billion DoE can currently offer. The department is expected to announce the first recipients soon as power companies seek to build the first new U.S. reactors in decades.