Panel’s approval of funds for nuclear plants may boost Comanche Peak | Business | Dallas…
This signals the real nuclear renaissance, and it’s hihgly unlikely that the loans themselves would be needed:
The vote by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development in its fiscal 2011 spending bill is “a critical step” in moving forward plans for two new reactors at Comanche Peak near Glen Rose, southwest of Fort Worth, David Campbell, the CEO of Luminant, the plant’s operator, said in a conference call Thursday.
The extra $25 billion, if approved by Congress, would nearly double the total guarantees being considered. Congress already has authorized $18.5 billion, and another $9 billion has a good chance of winning approval, Campbell said. Those amounts, plus the $25 billion, would bring the guarantees to more than $52 billion.
The U.S. Energy Department earlier designated four preferred nuclear projects for federal loan guarantees, with Comanche Peak in the “first alternate” position immediately behind those four, Campbell said. But the added $25 billion should enable more plants to get loan guarantees and boost Comanche Peak’s prospects, Campbell said.