Operators of financially struggling nuclear power plants now have around a month to bid for some of the cash available under the Department of Energy’s civil nuclear credits program, the agency announced Tuesday.
Bids on the first round of DOE’s roughly $6 billion nuclear credits program, greenlit in November’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, are due by 11:59 p.m. Mountain time on May 19, the agency said late Tuesday.
As part of the rollout, DOE “directs owners or operators of nuclear power reactors that are expected to shut down due to economic circumstances on how to apply for funding to avoid premature closure,” the release said.
This funding cycle will prioritize nuclear plants that have already announced plans to close, DOE said. The agency is also accepting both applications and bids at the same time in order to “implement the program on a more rapid timeline.” DOE will open up the credits program to all plant operators in a future cycle, the release said.
As bidding opened up, plants around the U.S. were getting set to shut their doors. Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan was next on the chopping block, set to go offline in May. California’s Diablo Canyon is also in danger of closure, as operator Pacific Gas & Electric is getting its affairs in order for decommissioning. Just one plant shuttered in 2021 — New York’s Indian Point.
