Feds offer $1B to keep California's last nuclear plant open

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Monday announced preliminary approval to spend up to $1.1 billion to help keep California's last operating nuclear power plant running, even as officials turned down a request for financial aid to restart a closed nuclear plant in Michigan.

The Energy Department said it was creating a path forward for the Diablo Canyon Power Plant on California's central coast to remain open, with final terms to be negotiated and finalized. The plant, which had been scheduled to close by 2025, was chosen in the first round of funding for the administration's new civil nuclear credit program, intended to bail out financially distressed owners or operators of nuclear power reactors.

The program is part of Biden's effort to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, compared with 2005 levels.

“This is a critical step toward ensuring that our domestic nuclear fleet will continue providing reliable and affordable power to Americans as the nation’s largest source of clean electricity,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.

Approval of the funding came as the Energy Department turned down a request by the Palisades nuclear plant for funding to restart operations. The plant along Lake Michigan was shut down last spring after generating electricity for more than 50 years.

Granholm served two terms as Michigan governor before becoming Energy secretary. A spokeswoman said Monday that Granholm's tenure as governor played no role in the decision on the Palisades plant.

Michigan's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had brought together a coalition to develop a plan that would have reopened a non-operational nuclear plant for the first time in U.S. history. Despite the temporary setback, Whitmer “will continue competing...