Two small nuclear reactors have been awarded US$800 million (A$1.2 billion) by the United States Energy Department.
Tennessee Valley Authority and Holtec will split the money equally, as part of a federal cost-shared funding scheme for their initial projects in Tennessee and Michigan, respectively.
Nuclear power has been a key tenet of the Trump administration, with the current Department of Energy restructuring a US$900 million solicitation, which was originally opened under the Biden administration, back in March, to help increase and speed up the deployment of small modular reactors.
“President Trump has made clear that America is going to build more energy, not less, and nuclear is central to that mission,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright in a statement regarding the funding.
“Advanced light-water SMRs will give our nation the reliable, round-the-clock power we need to fuel the President’s manufacturing boom, support data centres and AI growth, and reinforce a stronger, more secure electric grid. These awards ensure we can deploy these reactors as soon as possible.”
