Wednesday, 28 October 2026

The U.S. Department of Energy announced a conditional loan commitment of up to USD 5 billion to finance nuclear uprates and modernization across Constellation Energy's fleet in Illinois, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, according to the Energy Department.

The department said the modernization work is expected to add nearly 1.1 GW of electricity across the PJM Interconnection and Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) regions. The commitment was issued through the department's Office of Energy Dominance Financing.

The projects are expected to add enough electricity to power more than 930,000 homes in Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and across the PJM and MISO regions, according to the department.

The conditional commitment signals the department's intent to provide a loan, but Constellation must satisfy technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions before the department enters definitive financing documents and funds the loan.

A majority of Australians believe the country should consider nuclear power, according to a poll reported by World Nuclear News. Of 1,550 people surveyed between October 6 and October 12, 63% said Australia should consider nuclear power.

The poll found that 60% believe nuclear power will be part of Australia's future energy mix, while 59% support developing nuclear power to strengthen the nation's energy sovereignty.

Support crossed party lines, according to Australia for Nuclear. The poll found 48% of Labor voters and 44% of Green voters believe nuclear should be considered.

Expectations that nuclear will form part of the future energy mix were higher among some groups. According to the poll, 54% of Labor voters and 70% of Coalition voters expect nuclear power to form part of the nation's future energy mix.