Holtec is moving forward with its $7.4 billion plan to strengthen four small modular reactors and a supersize reactor plant in New Jersey.

Why is this important: Holtec, a long-time player in the nuclear power industry, is one of a handful of companies battling to develop small-scale nuclear reactors.

Details: Holtec said in a news release that it submitted Part II of a federal loan application to the Department of Energy’s Loan Program Office yesterday.

• The Department of Energy approved Part I of Holtec’s application in March.

Additional details: The company also said in the statement that Entergy Corporation, which operates nuclear power plants, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Holtect to assess the feasibility of deploying one or more SMR-160s.

• Entergy operates nuclear reactors at five sites in the southeastern United States and Nebraska.
• Entergy closed one of its power plants ahead of schedule in May.

What is happening: The federal loan Holtec referred to in the release would help fund the company’s plan to build until four of its SMR-160 reactors.

• The funding would also support the construction of a “new large-scale factory”.

To note : Holtec’s loan request says its first SMRs could be built at the Oyster Creek plant site in southern New Jersey, which it purchased from Exelon in 2018.

• Holtec operates a manufacturing facility on site.

Enlarge: “The new giga manufacturing plant, which will be built at an as yet unidentified location, will be a much larger version of the modern heavy manufacturing plant at Holtec’s Camden headquarters,” the company said. said.

• “Holtec plans to build the new facility, tentatively named Holtec Heavy Industries, to significantly improve America’s nuclear manufacturing capability and make it available to other nuclear power plant vendors with material needs.”