The DOE announces $5B loan to Constellation for nuclear uprates

The U.S. Department of Energy announced a conditional loan commitment of up to $5 billion to boost output at 15 reactors across eight nuclear power plants in Illinois, Maryland, and Pennsylvania by a combined 1.1 gigawatts. The funding targets existing facilities, aiming to expand clean power capacity more rapidly than constructing new reactors. The announcement aligns with the Trump administration’s support for nuclear energy as a stable, carbon-free electricity source. Constellation Energy operates the plants as part of the nation’s largest commercial nuclear fleet.

Constellation Energy has secured multiple funding sources for uprates, including a $4.3 billion partnership with Google to increase capacity at 11 plants by 890 MW. The company also finalized a power purchase agreement with Amazon for a 190-MW uprate at its Calvert Cliffs plant in Maryland. At least six of the eight DOE-backed facilities may receive funding from multiple sources, including Limerick in Pennsylvania and Braidwood, Byron, LaSalle, and Quad Cities in Illinois.

Power uprates involve installing new equipment to extract more megawatts from existing plants without building new infrastructure. Constellation emphasized that the DOE’s loan commitment does not guarantee final decisions on individual uprates or all proposed projects. The company noted the loan builds on private-sector investments already supporting its expansion efforts.

If implemented, the uprates at the eight plants would increase Constellation’s nuclear fleet capacity by roughly the equivalent of a new AP1000 reactor at far lower cost. The U.S. has built only two AP1000 reactors, both in Georgia, at a combined cost exceeding $30 billion. Industry experts argue uprates and restarting retired reactors offer the fastest, most affordable near-term path to expanding nuclear capacity.