The background: This development builds directly on two prior developments from the past year. First, in May 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14302, “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base,” along with three other nuclear-related EOs.
EO 14302, arguably the most far-reaching of those four EOs, tackled policy, fuel cycle, workforce expansion, uprates, and new large reactor builds. Specifically, the order called for the DOE to “prioritize work with the nuclear energy industry” to have “10 new large reactors with complete designs under construction by 2030.”
In July, the next chapter to this story came at the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit. There, President Trump announced a new commitment from Westinghouse to have 10 new AP1000 reactors under construction by 2030. At the time, this was explicitly linked to EO 14302, and undefined plans were made to partner with companies across the nuclear industry.
The newest chapter: The new loans are being offered by the DOE’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing, the office formerly known as the Loan Programs Office.
DOE-EDF’s loans will enable Westinghouse to purchase long-lead-time items for up to 10 AP1000s through as many as five eligible utilities or energy companies. According to the DOE, these loans will accelerate the deployment of these projects by as much as three years. The loans also aim to drive down costs and create supply chain efficiencies with a “bulk equipment purchase order structure.”
While neither Westinghouse nor the DOE have identified eligible partners, according to the DOE, “Westinghouse has signed letters of intent with seven potential partners with identified sites.” At this time, these identified sites have also not been revealed to the public, though the DOE has stated that each site will host two reactors.
In its announcement, the DOE included one key qualification: While this conditional commitment from DOE-EDF indicates the DOE’s “intent to provide a loan to finance the projects,” it and Westinghouse “must satisfy certain technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions” before the loans are funded.
Much still remains to be seen: how much funding the DOE ultimately will issue, which utilities and companies will be involved, which components will be procured with the loans, where these reactors will be sited, and—most importantly—whether or not construction begins as planned.
