Today I’m writing to urge you to reject the DOE's $17.5 billion nuclear loan package.
This program locks taxpayers into financing for reactors that won't come online for years — if ever — while faster, cheaper clean energy alternatives are ready to deploy today.
In addition the nuclear reactors in question are from a group known as the AP1000. The AP1000 has a troubled track record. For example, the last attempt to build these reactors in the U.S., at Georgia's Vogtle plant, came in billions over budget and years behind schedule.
In addition, these large reactors use water cooling systems in a time when droughts and extreme heat are becoming more common. If they can’t be cooled because of unstable climate conditions, the energy is unavailable, rendering them useless.
Smaller reactors -SMRs - are not on a realistic timeline for commercial use on an energy grid.
Secretary Wright claims these loans will speed up deployment by three years, but that's an optimistic projection for a technology with a history of cost overruns.
Each project requires nearly $1 billion in private equity just to unlock the loan — and no tech company has yet committed to a power purchase agreement for new construction. The financing structure is fragile, and the risk lands on the public.
The Trump administration wants construction started on 10 reactors by 2030. That timeline is not credible, and betting $17.5 billion on it is fiscally reckless.
This money must go toward energy sources that can actually deliver power within this decade, i.e. wind, water, and solar coupled with energy storage. We need look no further than California, or many places around the world to know this is possible.
Oppose this scheme as performative nonsense and s boondoggle ripe for corruption.
Thank you.
Sign Petition
