On Sept. 8 the U.S. Department of Energy announced a $1.9 billion loan package to restart the 615-megawatt Duane Arnold Nuclear Power Plant near Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This power plant was “permanently retired” in 2020 after 45 years of reliable energy production. In 2025 NextEra Energy announced plans to refurbish the reactor for full operations in an agreement with Google to power data centers for artificial intelligence. The federal loan will lower financing costs.

Two other nuclear power plants are being reopened. In southwest Michigan Holtec International was aided by a $1.52 billion federal loan from the Biden administration to restart the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant which had been closed in 2022. Work on this plant is a bit behind schedule after workers discovered that the steam generators needed more repair work than expected.