text: Ideally the government should not have to support nuclear power with federal loan guarantees. Nuclear power is relatively inexpensive to generate once a plant is built, but construction of these plants entails a substantial up-front capital cost, possibly $8 billion each. Generating private investment is difficult due to the possibility of lawsuits and regulatory delays. Instead of providing loan guarantees, Mr. Obama could have aided the nuclear power industry through protection from lawsuits.