New developments in the Department of Energy’s $17.5 billion nuclear supply chain loans could be announced over the next few months, DOE’s Julie Kozeracki said at a Tuesday industry event.
Kozeracki, acting chief investment officer at DOE’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing, addressed the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council’s New Nuclear Capital gathering in New York City. She said DOE has been working with utilities, states and other entities on the supply chain. Supply chain improvements could accelerate project timelines by three years, she predicted.
Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactors are the only advanced large-scale reactor that is Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensed and in operation in the United States. While DOE’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing supports these large-scale reactor projects, Kozeracki said it is less inclined to fund first-of-a-kind small modular reactor projects at the moment.
With several AP1000 reactors in operation today, there is data known around the project’s completion and what it will take to operate it, Kozeracki said. Since there are no SMRs in operation in the U.S. right now, it lacks that data to support a loan, she added.
However, she said the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy has grant programs that support research and development and earlier stage commercialization of SMRs.
“So, you know our office is certainly open for business of reactors of all types and sizes,” Kozeracki said. “I think it’s just that we hear a lot of desire for you know something that looks closer to a project financing, and that’s just much easier to get to with a reactor that’s already been constructed.”
President Donald Trump’s administration has a goal of having 10 large reactors to be under construction by 2030. In reaching this target, Kozeracki said the $17.5 billion loan will be used to procure items for five two packs of Westinghouse’s AP1000 reactors. DOE announced the loan in June.
DOE is still in the process of getting other pieces sorted out prior to project construction. This includes signing engineering, procurement and construction contracts or power purchase agreements with hyperscalers, Kozeracki said. However, she said DOE is confident the projects will move forward and will get reactor parts ready for when the time comes.
“We [DOE’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing] are a senior lender. So we are making loans that have to be repaid with interest, with a reasonable prospect of repayment,” Kozeracki said. “So you know if folks who have designed that have not yet been complete and constructed would like to move forward in our process. That’s great. It just requires credit support commensurate with that level of project maturity.”
Kozeracki continued,“And for AP1000, it’s just because we have that amount of data around the you know completion of that project, also that those units are up and operating great, makes it a lot easier from an underwriting perspective.”
