nuclear-news

Legislation intended to save Georgia’s struggling Plant Vogtle nuclear project is stuck in the Senate

Lifeline to Ga. nuclear project stuck in the Senate,Tamar Hallerman – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 14 Aug 17,  A last-ditch effort to send hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to Georgia’s struggling Plant Vogtle nuclear project appears to be stuck in the U.S. Senate as lawmakers grapple with the prospect of a broader tax overhaul.

Boosters of the estimated $25 billion project, the only one of its kind left in the U.S., think the federal bill could throw an economic lifeline to the companies behind the venture as they decide whether to move ahead with construction or abandon work amid major cost overruns and deep delays.

Under current law, newly constructed nuclear reactors can receive federal tax credits for producing electricity only if they are put in service before 2021. The bill before Congress would lift the deadline……

Georgia backers of the project recently visited Washington to ask for more aid from the Trump administration, Bloomberg reported last week, potentially by increasing or speeding up the disbursement of $8.3 billion in federal loan guarantees……

Nuclear power also has its critics on Capitol Hill, who see it as a waste of taxpayer funding.

“With so much renewable energy, nuclear power just doesn’t make sense,” U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Texas Democrat, said earlier this summer. http://www.myajc.com/news/state–regional-govt–politics/lifeline-nuclear-project-stuck-the-senate/lxjVm1C1Ef5UyRiiKBS6MM/

August 16, 2017 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA