U.S. to reportedly lend Vistra $4.2 billion to expand nuclear power output

 The U.S. government reportedly plans to provide about $4.2 billion in financing to power producer Vistra to increase electricity generation from its nuclear fleet, as Washington pushes to expand nuclear capacity to meet rising power demand. 

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright is expected to announce the financing on Monday during a visit to one of Vistra's nuclear facilities along Lake Erie in Ohio, a report from Reuters News said. The planned financing comes as U.S. electricity demand accelerates after decades of relatively modest growth. The expansion of artificial-intelligence data centers, wider electrification and cryptocurrency mining are among the factors driving demand for additional power.

The financing would support efforts to increase the output, or "uprate," of at least three of Vistra's four nuclear power stations, the report added. 

Nuclear plants can be uprated through several methods, including using more enriched fuel or increasing the amount of new fuel loaded during refueling. Utilities can also make major equipment upgrades, such as replacing turbines, to increase reactor output. The NRC says U.S. utilities have used uprates since the 1970s and that it had approved more than 170 such projects by 2022.

Vistra operates six reactors across four U.S. nuclear plants, with a combined generating capacity of more than 6.5 gigawatts, enough to supply electricity to roughly 3.25 million homes.