President Obama throws down the nuclear power gauntlet.

On Tuesday, President Obama will announce plans to break ground on two new nuclear reactors at a Southern Company plant in Burke, Georgia — the� first new U.S. nuclear reactors since the incident at Three Mile Island in 1979.

The president will make the announcement at the IBEW Local Headquarters in Lanham, Md., where union members can learn applications that can be used in the construction of nuclear power plants.

The White House is making no bones about the fact that they see this announcement as advancing two agenda items: clean energy and efforts at bipartisanship.

“In the State of the Union and at the House Republican Conference retreat, the President made clear that he is willing to work with Republicans towards a comprehensive solution to our energy challenges,” a White House official said. “By announcing plans today to break ground on the first new nuclear reactors in nearly three decades, the President is making good on his offer to meet Republicans halfway.”

The official said that pro-nuke Republicans now need to return the favor.

“Republicans who advocate for nuclear power have to recognize that we will not achieve a big boost in nuclear capacity unless we also create a system of incentives to make clean energy profitable,” the official said. “As long as producing carbon pollution carries no costs, plants that burn fossil fuel will be more cost effective than nuclear plants.”