Climate Changed

Threatened Solyndra Loan Program Gets Boost From Nuclear Deal

  • Congress moved to end Energy Department’s loan guarantees
  • Trump administration pledged $3.7 billion to Vogtle plant

The nuclear reactor at Plant Vogtle power plant in Waynesboro, Georgia.

Photographer: John Bazemore/AP Photo
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President Donald Trump has discovered a use for a green-minded federal loan program that’s been widely seen as a candidate for the chopping block: supporting troubled nuclear reactors.

The Energy Department announced Friday $3.7 billion in additional loan guarantees to Southern Co.’s Vogtle nuclear plant, an unexpected lifeline to the last hope of a U.S. nuclear revival. The companies behind the project had previously received $8.3 billion in support.