Cancelling Georgia nuclear plant could cost owners billions
ATLANTA — The federal government is warning the owners of a troubled nuclear power plant in Georgia that any move to cancel a planned expansion would lead to demands for quick repayment of nearly $6 billion in federal loans.
In a letter to the plant’s three owners, the Department of Energy said late Friday that if the construction project is cancelled, the government is “prepared to move swiftly to fully enforce its rights under terms of the loan guarantee agreements, including the repayment provisions.”
The letter calls the two additional reactors being built at Plant Vogtle, approximately 30 miles (50 kilometres) south of Augusta, the nation’s first large-scale nuclear project in more than 30 years and “a linchpin in the all-of-the-above energy strategy required to sustain our nation’s economic strength and energy independence.”
The government has disbursed $5.6 billion of an $8.3 billion loan guarantee approved during the Obama administration. The Trump administration announced conditional commitments of up to $3.7 billion in additional loan guarantees last year, but that money has not been spent.