$1B lifeline may aid nuclear plant

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration Monday announced preliminary approval to spend up to $1.1 billion to help keep California’s last operating nuclear power plant running.

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.