The U.S. Department of Energy will make loans totaling up to $17.5 billion to utilities and other energy companies to support development of 10 nuclear reactors at five sites, officials announced Tuesday.
“These conditional loans will play an important role in reviving the supply chain needed for America to once again build large-scale commercial reactors,” Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a statement. The loans will help speed project development timelines by as much as three years, he said.
The announcement advances an executive order President Trump signed a year ago, calling for deployment of 300 GW of net new nuclear capacity by 2050, and having 10 large reactors under construction by 2030.
DOE’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing, formerly the Loan Programs Office, will make up to five loans, the agency said.
DOE also said that Westinghouse — which manufactures the AP1000 commercial reactor — will partner with “up to five eligible utilities and energy companies nationwide to procure the long-lead items at a fixed price.” Each project will be jointly owned by Westinghouse and a utility or energy company partner, DOE said. Both Westinghouse and the partner will be required to fully commit their project equity, $1 billion total per project, upfront prior to accessing DOE loan funds, the agency noted.
“Purchasing for each project will be staggered based on the timing of equity commitments and other relevant factors,” according to the announcement. “Westinghouse has signed letters of intent with seven potential partners, each with identified project sites.”
“We believe the right incentives are being created to advance the rapid deployment of AP1000 reactors in the US,” Cameco CEO Tim Gitzel said in a statement. The company has a 49% stake in Westinghouse, while Brookfield owns the remainder.
According to Capstone, a D.C.-based research firm, regulated utilities best positioned to access the loans include: Dominion Energy, DTE Energy, WEC Energy Group, Public Service Enterprise Group and Entergy Corp.
“We expect [DOE] to announce additional details about which utilities are receiving federal financing in 2H 2026, as the office works with applicants to close each loan,” Capstone said.
Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions praised the announcement and the Trump administration’s nuclear commitment.
“This investment will play a critical role in scaling nuclear resources to meet growing electricity demand,” CRES President and CEO Heather Reams said in a statement.
Others were skeptical, however, about the funding and demand for the nuclear projects.
The loans are “a drop in the bucket compared to the likely total project cost for ten AP1000 reactors,” cautioned Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists. The total cost could approach $200 billion, he said in an email to Utility Dive.
“And none of these potential projects is backed up with an actual contract for construction,” Lyman said. “I'm sure that DOE would have preferred using its loan guarantee authority to support actual reactor construction rather than merely orders for components that will have to be cancelled if actual projects do not materialize, but to date no such projects exist.”
