Swearing to America that “this is only the beginning,” President Barack Obama announced over $8B in federal loan guarantees Tuesday for the construction of the first nuclear power plant in the nation in nearly thirty years.

Obama called this both essential and politically advantageous as he tries to put more charge into his energy agenda.  Obama called for comprehensive energy law that assigns a cost to the pollution of fuels, giving utility companies more incentive to switch to nuclear power.

“On an issue that affects our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, we can’t continue to be mired in the same old state debates between left and right, between environmentalists and entrepreneurs,” Obama said in a stop at a job training center outside Washington.  “Our competitors are racing to create jobs and command growing energy industries.  And nuclear energy is no exception.”

Increasing expenses, safety issues and opposition from environmentalists have kept utility companies from constructing nuclear power plants since the early 1980s.

Obama has been arguing that the nation must develop cleaner energy technologies and modernize the means by which it powers itself.  Simultaneously, he has said that policymakers must not conclude they must decide between a cleaner environment and enough energy supplies to cover demand.

Obama’s proposal for 2011 would add $36B in new federal loan guarantees to $18.5B already accounted for – for a total of $54.5B.  The new $8.3B in federal loan guarantees will go toward the creation and maintenance of two reactors in Burke County, Ga., by Southern Co.

When presenting his case, the president admitted that nuclear energy has “serious drawbacks.”  He said a two party group of leaders and nuclear experts will be charged with improving and expediting the safe storage of nuclear waste, and that the plants must be held to the highest safety standards.

“That’s going to be an imperative.  But investing in nuclear energy remains a necessary step,” Obama said.

“And what I hope is that this announcement underscores both our seriousness in meeting the energy challenge – and our willingness to look at this challenge not as a partisan issue, but as a matter far more important than politics,” he added.

Obama spoke after visiting the job training center at the headquarters of Local 26 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.  The union represents electrical and telecommunications employees, and it offers training for energy careers, including the building of nuclear plants.

Obama met teachers and students who are learning advanced electrical skills.  Obama learned about fire alarm wiring and pulled an alarm.  He joked it was the first time he had done that “since junior high.”

Federal loan guarantees are considered crucial to starting the building of reactors due to the high cost.  Critics say the guarantees are a subsidy that will put taxpayers at risk given the industry’s record of cost overruns and loan defaults.

The reactors are part of a government agenda the administration believes will win GOP support when the public is expressing a desire for legislators to cooperate.

Having Obama make the announcement also underscores the political weight the administration is putting behind the effort to use nuclear power and other alternative energy sources to reduce American dependence on foreign oil and other fuels, and create jobs here.

However, the construction date of the reactors is years away.

Southern Co.’s application for a license to construct and maintain the reactors is pending with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, one of 13 such applications the agency is considering.  The earliest any could be approved would be late 2011 or early 2012, an NRC spokesman said.

Southern Co. stated that the project would create about 3,000 construction jobs, while the new reactors would generate power for approximately 1.4M people and employ 850 people.

cf http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/16/obama-nuclear-plant-presi_n_463754.html