WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama announced $8.3 billion in loan guarantees on Tuesday to build the first U.S. nuclear power plant in nearly three decades in a move designed to help advance climate legislation in Congress.
Obama, a Democrat, said the United States needed to increase its supply of nuclear power to meet its energy needs and fight climate change. The loan guarantee will go to help Southern Co. (SO.N) build two reactors at a plant in the state of Georgia.
“Even though we’ve not broken ground on a … new nuclear power plant in thirty years, nuclear energy remains our largest source of fuel that produces no carbon emissions,” Obama said after touring a union education center in Lanham, Maryland.
“To meet our growing energy needs and prevent the worst consequences of climate change, we’ll need to increase our supply of nuclear power. It’s that simple,” he said.
Obama, a Democrat, is pushing for a law that would cap greenhouse gas emissions from industry and expand the use of renewable energy such as wind and solar.
The administration hopes that by reaching out to Republicans on the nuclear issue — a top priority for key opposition lawmakers such as former presidential candidate John McCain — that support for the stalled bill will grow.
Atlanta-based Southern, a leading U.S producer of electricity, welcomed the move. Its shares rose 1.86 percent.
“It’s an important endorsement in the role nuclear power must play in diversifying our nation’s energy mix and helping to curb greenhouse gas emissions,” Southern Chief Executive David Ratcliffe said in a statement.
Southern has one of the largest fleets of coal-fired power plants in the nation and would suffer if Washington were to institute restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions.
Obama wants a cap-and-trade system to instill such a cap, and that system is seen as key to U.S. involvement in an international push to fight global warming. Republicans largely oppose cap-and-trade.
