WASHINGTON D.C.: The U.S. Department of Energy on June 23 announced US$17.5 billion in conditional loans to support the construction of new nuclear power plants and strengthen the domestic supply chain for reactor components.

The financing is intended to help utilities and energy companies secure critical equipment, including reactor vessels and steam generators, which can take years to procure and have slowed the development of large nuclear projects.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the loans could help the United States meet its goal of having 10 new large-scale nuclear reactors under construction by 2030, potentially bringing that target forward by three years.

The initiative comes as U.S. electricity demand rises sharply, driven in part by the rapid expansion of data centers supporting artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

"We are confident that these projects will be economic for utility shareholders, ratepayers, and hyperscalers," Wright said.

The Energy Department's Office of Energy Dominance Financing, formerly known as the Loan Programs Office, will support up to five loans. Each loan would back two 1.1-gigawatt Westinghouse reactors at a single site.

Westinghouse, owned by Brookfield Asset Management and Cameco, will work with up to five utilities and energy companies to procure reactors and other long-lead equipment at fixed prices.

Wright said seven utilities had expressed interest in the program, but did not identify the companies or project locations.

Westinghouse and a utility or energy company would jointly own each project. Both partners would be required to commit $500 million before receiving Energy Department funding.

"This is not a risky endeavor," Wright said.

Nuclear projects have struggled to attract private investment because they require large upfront spending, face lengthy regulatory processes, and are vulnerable to delays and cost overruns. Natural gas plants and renewable energy projects are generally faster and cheaper to build.

During President Donald Trump's first term, the Loan Programs Office was used to finance reactors at Georgia's Vogtle nuclear plant. Those reactors were completed years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.

Trump has set a goal of quadrupling U.S. nuclear capacity to 400 gigawatts by 2050. The United States currently has about 100 gigawatts of nuclear capacity.

Three shuttered nuclear plants are also expected to restart in the coming years: Palisades in Michigan, Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, and Duane Arnold in Iowa.

Wright said the Energy Department expects the new projects to "well outperform what was done on Vogtle."

Brookfield Chief Executive Connor Teskey said the loans would help revive domestic nuclear construction.

"(The money) serves as a catalyst for nuclear, providing the certainty needed to enhance the domestic nuclear supply chain and accelerate construction of nuclear projects that will deliver reliable baseload power around the country for decades to come," he said.