The US Department of Energy just wrote one of the biggest checks in American nuclear history. Its Office of Energy Dominance Financing announced a $17.5 billion conditional loan commitment on June 23 to fund the procurement of long-lead items for up to 10 Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, spread across five separate two-reactor projects.
Each AP1000 unit carries a capacity of 1.1 gigawatts, meaning the full buildout would add 11 GW of nuclear generation to the US grid.
What the money actually covers
The $17.5 billion in loans is specifically earmarked for procuring long-lead items under the American Nuclear Supply Chain Loans program. The DOE believes this approach could accelerate project starts by up to three years, with the target of breaking ground by 2030.
Each of the five projects requires a $500 million equity commitment from both Westinghouse and its utility partners before any federal dollars flow, meaning every project needs $1 billion in private capital before the DOE opens the checkbook.
