Money Matters in Reactor Project Debate

Under the loan guarantee program, companies such as Constellation would pay into an insurance-like program the government could tap if a project's financing went into default. There is debate, though, about how much protection this would offer.

In any case, the nuclear industry appears to be picking up gains. The Bush administration seems more willing to extend loan guarantees to cover all of the debt-financing part of a project, instead of an earlier proposal of 90 percent of that portion. And under one proposal in Congress, more energy companies would be able to classify a new design as cutting edge.

"They want the sun, the moon and the stars. The bottom line is they will probably get the sun and the moon," said Michele Boyd, legislative director of the energy program at Public Citizen, a critic of nuclear power.

Not getting the stars, though, could be enough to affect whether the new reactor goes up in Calvert.

Even if the amount of loan guarantee volume grows larger than it stands, a lot of nuclear companies have their eyes on the program. About 17 companies are considering constructing as many as 31 reactors, according to the industry. At perhaps $4.5 billion apiece, that is potentially $110 billion worth of financing that would have to be rounded up.

Even the complicated difference between 100 percent and 90 percent loan guarantee coverage on the debt portion of a reactor could make a difference.

Book, the energy analyst, hears the trepidation for nuclear projects from investors, which for starters haven't been tried in such a long time. "In the investment world," he said, "decimal points and fractions matter."

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.