Google’s revived nuclear power plant gets $1.9B loan from US government

[Marlin]

Google's revived nuclear power plant gets $1.9B loan from US government

https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/08/googles-revived-nuclear-power-plant-gets-1-9b-loan-from-us-government/

[Core Content]

The U.S. Department of Energy has issued a $1.9 billion loan to NextEra Energy to support the restart of the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa. The facility, which has been shuttered since 2020 following storm damage, is scheduled to return to service by 2029 with a capacity of 615 megawatts.

This project reflects a broader trend of tech companies securing firm, carbon-free power from retired nuclear assets to support the energy demands of AI data centers. As utilities face rising electricity consumption, the refurbishment of mothballed reactors provides a faster path to grid capacity than new construction. These investments signal a shift in the economic viability of nuclear power as a primary source for industrial-scale computing infrastructure.

Google said it would bring an Iowa nuclear power plant back from the dead. Now the plant's owner is getting a $1.9 billion loan from the U.S. Energy Department.

Last October, Google said it would bring an Iowa nuclear power plant back from the dead. Now the facility's owner, NextEra Energy, has received a $1.9 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to finance the refurbishment.

The sizable loan is the second of its kind, suggesting that the Trump administration views revived nuclear power as a key source of electricity for tech companies seeking to power their AI data centers. Last year, the Department of Energy extended a $1 billion loan to Constellation Energy to restart a reactor at Three Mile Island.

Read the full article at TechCrunch:
https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/08/googles-revived-nuclear-power-plant-gets-1-9b-loan-from-us-government/