Nuclear Power Deployment Scorecard

Powering Future Decades

March 5, 2009
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New Nuclear Plant Deployment
Current State of the Industry

Federal Financial Incentives

Summary: EPAct 2005 incentives are at various stages of development: two rules issued and one notice published.

Standby Support: Rule issued, two industry requests for conditional agreements to date, no contract issued.

• Final Rulemaking Issued August 2006.
• Published Standard Conditional Agreement September 2007.
• DOE released on-line instructions for requesting Conditional Agreement December 2007.
• One request for a Conditional Agreement was received in September 2008.
• One Notice of Intent to Request a Conditional Agreement was received in 2008 and a second in February 2009.
• One Notice of Intent received in 2008 has since been withdrawn.
• Expect first DOE approval for standby support contract in 2011.

Production Tax Credits: Notice issued.

• Internal Revenue Bulletin 2006-18 published May 2006.
• Modified Guidance on Tax Credit may be issued by early 2009.

Nuclear Energy Facility Loan Guarantees: Congress provided DOE with authority to issue $20.5 billion in guaranteed loans. Such authority expires at the end of fiscal year 2009.

• DOE issued solicitations for $18.5 billion in loan guarantees for new nuclear power facilities and $2 billion for the "front end" of the nuclear fuel cycle on June 30, 2008.
• Fifteen power companies have submitted applications, requesting a total of $93 billion in loans to be guaranteed, by the Part II deadline of 12/19/08. The applications cover 10 sites with a total of 16 reactors, capable of providing 22 GW in generating capacity.
• DOE has narrowed the power facilities under consideration for loan guarantees to five applicants, with a total of nine reactors.
• Two companies submitted $4 billion in loan guarantee applications for two front-end fuel cycle facilities, and followed up with Part II applications by the 12/2/08 deadline.