The Trump administration plans to direct hundreds of billions of dollars in federal loans toward building new nuclear power plants, Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced Monday, marking the government’s most ambitious push yet to expand atomic energy production.
Wright told attendees at the American Nuclear Society conference in Washington that nuclear power will receive the bulk of funding from the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office, which holds roughly $412 billion in lending authority under the Inflation Reduction Act.
“By far the biggest use of those dollars will be for nuclear power plants — to get those first plants built,” Wright said. “When we leave office three years and three months from now, I want to see hopefully dozens of nuclear plants under construction.”
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The announcement builds on an October deal between the administration and Westinghouse Electric Co. to deploy $80 billion in new reactors. Under that agreement, the government will provide financing and handle permitting in exchange for a 20% stake in Westinghouse’s profits above $17.5 billion.
Wright said the Energy Department could match private investment in nuclear facilities at a ratio of up to four-to-one with low-cost federal debt financing. The secretary expects artificial intelligence companies to pour billions into nuclear capacity as data centers drive unprecedented electricity demand.
President Trump signed an executive order in May calling for the US to break ground on 10 large nuclear reactors by 2030. Technology giants, including Google, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, have committed billions to restarting dormant nuclear plants and developing new reactor technology.
The push faces significant financial risks. Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy in 2017 after massive cost overruns on projects in Georgia and South Carolina. The Georgia Vogtle plant opened seven years behind schedule, with its price tag soaring from an initial $14 billion estimate to nearly $37 billion. South Carolina abandoned its project after spending $10 billion.
Uranium miner Cameco and Brookfield Asset Management now own Westinghouse. The company’s AP1000 reactor design can power more than 750,000 homes, though the United States has not broken ground on any new commercial reactors.
The administration has rebranded the loan office as the “energy dominance financing office” and shifted its focus from renewable energy projects that dominated Biden-era lending toward reliable baseload power generation.
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