For the first time since 1978, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the construction of new nuclear power reactors. Does this mark a shift in American nuclear policy and public perception?

Earlier this month, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved construction and operating licenses for two new nuclear power reactors in the United States under the administration of Southern Company. The reactors will be built as extensions to an existing nuclear power station in Waynesboro, Ga., and are scheduled to begin operation in 2016 and 2017.

Funded in part by Georgia taxpayers and federal loans, the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, named after Southern’s board chairman, will cost $14 billion.

The Vogtle reactors will join 104 other reactors operating across 31 states in the country, according to Nuclear Energy Institute data. Today, nuclear energy is responsible for generating 19.6 percent, or 807 billion kilowatt-hours, of electricity in the U.S.

The last nuclear reactor built in the U.S. was the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Watts-Bar plant, started in 1973 and completed in 1996. As the Washington Post reports, a second unit has not yet been finished. The lack of new nuclear reactors since the late 1970s is generally attributed to the rising costs of meeting regulatory standards following the Three Mile Island meltdown of 1979 and the continued low price of natural gas.

Industry analysts and investors, including South Carolina Electric and Gas, which is currently seeking approval for its own reactor, will closely follow the construction of the Vogtle plant to determine if the predicted “nuclear renaissance” will unfold as some hope.

“This marks the beginning of a riskier phase of the construction process,” Marc de Croisset of FBR Capital Markets told the Post. “The utility industry will be watching for any cost overruns and other mishaps. How well construction progresses could spur further nuclear builds or potentially bring the nuclear renaissance to a standstill, particularly given the backdrop of low natural gas prices.”

The NRC’s announcement followed the Department of Energy’s declaration, in January, of its intention to support “small modular nuclear reactors” by 2022.

“We think (small, modular nuclear) solves a lot of issues in terms of investments and electricity infrastructure. And it’s a way for the United States to regain its leadership in nuclear,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said at a press conference last year. Small, modular nuclear reactors are designed to provide electricity to locations distant from existing power grids, at cheaper costs than more traditional reactors.

These announcements arrive in the long wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. In March 2011, Japan was hit by an earthquake and subsequently suffered a massive tsunami resulting in the meltdown of three nuclear reactors and the release of massive amounts of nuclear material into the atmosphere. The NRC has met extensively to discuss policy and standards responses to the disaster, although the American public does not feel the same urgency.

Shortly after the Fukushima disaster, a Gallup poll revealed that 58 percent of Americans believe nuclear power plants in the U.S. are safe, while 36 percent said they are not. In a March 2010 survey on the issue, 62 percent of Americans said they favor the use of nuclear energy for U.S. electricity production, with 33 percent opposing it. This reflects a trend since 2001 of rising support for, and declining opposition to, nuclear power generation.

However, not everyone is as enthusiastic for a nuclear renaissance. “New nuclear power is an economic meltdown waiting to happen, and the American taxpayer is on the hook for the financial fallout,” Jim Riccio of Greenpeace told the Post. Taxpayers are helping “to build new nuclear reactors that corporations would never risk building themselves.”

Indeed, a coalition of anti-nuclear groups has already announced it will be filing suit to block the Vogtle plant’s approval, stating that the plant’s design did not account for lessons learned in the aftermath of the Japanese disaster.

Do you believe we’re on the verge of a nuclear energy renaissance? Let us know in the comments below.