U.S. President Barack Obama has offered eight billion dollars in government loan guarantees to support the construction of the first civilian nuclear reactors in the United States, since three decades. Mr. Obama said nuclear power was essential to meet U.S. energy needs and fight global warming. The decision has been criticised by nuclear safety campaigners. The Nuclear Energy Institute in Washington welcomed it. Two new plants are to be constructed in the state of Georgia by US electricity firm Southern Company. No new nuclear power plants were started in the US since the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island. The accident was caused by the partial core meltdown of one of the reactors at the site in Pennsylvania, causing release of radioactive gases to the atmosphere.