Trump Closely Watching Troubled Nuclear Plants That Obama Funded

Energy Department awarded $8.3 billion for Southern reactors
Toshiba’s Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy protection

A radioactive warning sign sits on the side of a railway goods wagon parked in the sidings of Sellafield atomic fuel reprocessing site, operated by Sellafield Ltd., in Seascale, U.K., on Monday, Dec. 19, 2016.
Photographer: Matthew Lloyd/Bloomberg

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By Chris Martin and Ari Natter

March 30, 2017 at 7:30 PM UTC

Updated on

March 30, 2017 at 11:00 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

As Southern Co. opens a review of its troubled nuclear reactors following a bankruptcy filing by contractor Westinghouse Electric Co., the Trump administration has 8.3 billion reasons to be worried.

Southern is financing the reactors with $8.3 billion in federal loan guarantees approved under President Barack Obama’s initiative to build the first new nuclear plants in the U.S. in 30 years. Now, following delays and cost overruns, financial troubles at Toshiba Corp. unit Westinghouse have put the taxpayers’ interest at risk, along with the fate of the projects.