Obama pledges $8 billion for new nuclear reactors

The guarantees will help fund two reactors in eastern Georgia which, if licensed and built, could begin running in 2016 and 2017, supplying electricity to 1.4 million people.

More money is coming. The Department of Energy has $18 billion to dole out, and Obama, in his 2011 budget, asked that the number be tripled to $54.5 billion, enough to help fund six to 10 reactors. Obama says more nuclear power, which doesn't emit greenhouse gases and produces 20% of the nation's electricity, is needed for the U.S. to meet greenhouse gas emission goals and keep pace with others, such as China, Japan and France, which are investing heavily in nuclear.

New construction in the U.S. nuclear industry stopped after the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. But Energy Secretary Steven Chu said that the U.S. pioneered nuclear energy and has sat on the sidelines for too long.

"It's time to take the lead once again," he said.

The government's financial support makes a nuclear revival "absolutely more real," says Mujid Kazimi, professor of nuclear engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. If Congress approves more money, "many more will go ahead," he says.

Opponents say new nuclear plants cost too much — the two reactors in Georgia will run about $14 billion — and are a risky bet.