AI Judge changed title after evaluation, original title: "US Department of Energy conditionally approves $17.5 billion in loans for Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors"
The Department of Energy is dangling $17.5 billion in conditional low-cost loans so utilities can lock in long-lead reactor components for ten Westinghouse AP1000 units before full permits or final investment decisions are even in hand, a move aimed squarely at the surge in electricity demand from AI data centers.
The Trump administration will announce $17.5 billion of low-interest loans from the Department or Energy later today to finance orders of Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors. Seven groups have already signed letters of intent. After compute, the next bottleneck is energy.
By front-loading orders for reactor vessels, steam generators, and coolant pumps through Westinghouse at fixed prices, the program hopes to compress construction schedules by as much as three years while rebuilding domestic supply chains that have sat idle for decades.
Vogtle’s two AP1000 units ballooned from a $14 billion estimate past $30 billion with multi-year delays, so it remains unclear whether standardized designs and advance procurement will actually keep costs and schedules in check this round.
Many users expressed excitement about the $17.5 billion loan for 10 Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors, calling the plants great and urging more gigawatts, while some dismissed the plan as a money pit based on wishful thinking.
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#350Why is this being done? This pod explains all https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keEYuwO7Nik
SITUATION DETECTED: The Department of Energy has issued a conditional $17.5B loan commitment to finance 10 large-scale Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors across the US.
We need 1,000 new AP1000's
A big step toward deploying a fleet of 10 AP1000® reactors in the United States happened today thanks to U.S. Energy @SecretaryWright, who announced up to $17.5 billion in federal loans for the purchase of the most complex components of new nuclear power plants.
Advanced procurement of these long-lead time items (LLIs) can accelerate construction and commercial operation by upwards of three years.
We’re proud to be working with the U.S. Department of @ENERGY's @DOE_EDF to strengthen nuclear supply chains, reduce costs and accelerate deployment of AP1000 reactors, the only fully designed and licensed advanced reactors operating in the United States today.
SITUATION DETECTED: The Department of Energy has issued a conditional $17.5B loan commitment to finance 10 large-scale Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors across the US.
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SITUATION DETECTED: The Department of Energy has issued a conditional $17.5B loan commitment to finance 10 large-scale Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors across the US.
To me, "build in bulk" is the key thing to drive nuclear costs down. Fundamentally what we build a lot of is what gets cheaper. The first of these reactors will probably be late and over budget. The more we build, the more the cost will drop.
The question is always what incents a buyer to go first, with that likelihood of slippage and cost overruns. Even with the DOE loan guarantees, I don't see that addressed.
Others closer to the ground may know more than I.
If you want to accelerate AP1000 builds, this is the path that leads down the cost curve. DOE loan guarantees, order in bulk to reduce total cost, build in pairs, use the few existing sites, order ahead to start long-lead item manufacture.
@ThomasHochman Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.
I wrote about the AP1000 and what actually sets its construction clock:
https://open.substack.com/pub/frontiermap/p/westinghouse-wants-to-build-ten-ap1000?r=71df40&utm_medium=ios
@MTSlive Too bad it takes 8-10 years to see the fruits of that decision.
DOE release here:
https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/u-s-bets-billions-of-dollars-in-low-cost-loans-can-revive-nuclear-power-be8dcf81
The Trump administration will announce $17.5 billion of low-interest loans from the Department or Energy later today to finance orders of Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors. Seven groups have already signed letters of intent. After compute, the next bottleneck is energy.
@ThomasHochman Trump's nuclear company just signed a deal with Freemelt $FREEM
@MTSlive When will those reactors be implemented?
@slxego0 @MTSlive Extreme engineering can't be rushed. The problem was abandoning nuclear for 30+ years.
NANO-reactors can bridge the gap, but they are still in development and approval stages.
@elonmusk's orbital data centers will be here quicker than our grid improvements will arrive.
@DanielleFong
@BradGroux @MTSlive Why, aren’t we going to need energy 8-10 years from now?
@JustinTarquin @MTSlive Didn't say we won't, but our demands outpace our supply now. This was a failure on leadership.
As with funding like this too, nothing stops the next administration from pulling it.
Grossly overstated and, frankly, offensive towards all of the staff at DOE and NRC who worked tirelessly over the last year. This is a huge step, but I don't think it's bigger than any of the wins in the Pilot Program, or the massive reforms at DOE and NRC on authorization and licensing, respectively.
@CSPopoff @MTSlive WTF are you talking about? I've always been pro-nuclear, the point is that this should have happened decades ago.
@BradGroux @MTSlive Assholes like you ten years ago are reasons we don’t have them now.
@BradGroux @MTSlive 10 years wouldn’t be so bad. Could be double that if you look at history as your guide. Except in China of course.
@ThomasHochman Do you have info on this: "seven potential partners have signed letters of intent"?
