Westinghouse Electric Co. and Ameren Missouri confirmed on Monday that they will pursue up to $226 million federal funding for a small-scale nuclear reactor in central Missouri.

The companies sought a similar grant last year. But the U.S. Department of Energy instead chose to fund a consortium led by Babcock & Wilcox, a company known for making nuclear reactors for ships and submarines.

The Energy Department last month requested additional proposals for small modular reactors that could begin producing electricity by 2025. Any funding award requires a dollar-for-dollar match from recipients.

Westinghouse on Monday said it sent a letter of intent to the Energy Department. Applications are due July 1, and the government expects to select a single grant recipient in September.

At least one other company,

NuScale Power, based in Portland, Ore., and majority-owned by engineering and contracting giant Fluor Corp., has also signaled intent to compete for the funds.

Warren Wood, Ameren Missouri’s vice president of regulatory and legislative affairs, said the Westinghouse-Ameren application was runner-up during the initial round of funding and should compete well again this time.

“The Westinghouse SMR design, we think, is the most advanced and the most likely to be license-able in a short period of time,” he said.

The 225-megawatt Westinghouse small modular reactor is based on the company’s full-size AP1000 reactor that has already been certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and is being built in the United States and China.

Ameren and Westinghouse plan to pursue design certification of the smaller reactor and then seek a combined construction and operating license for a plant that would be located next to the utility’s Callaway Energy Center.

St. Louis-based Ameren said there’s no guarantee it will build a second reactor at Callaway, even with federal help. But the small reactors are seen as an option to replace aging coal-fired plants.

The smaller reactors, generally less than a third the size of today’s plants, have been touted by President Barack Obama and the nuclear industry as sources of around-the-clock power that would be easier for utilities to finance and deploy and safer to operate.

Because the plants would be built in modules at a central factory and shipped worldwide, they’re seen as a potential new source of manufacturing jobs — a lure that has drawn support from Missouri politicians.

But opponents of nuclear power question whether promised benefits can be achieved, especially because none of the smaller reactors have been built yet and there’s no guarantee they’ll be economically competitive against relatively inexpensive natural gas.

Jeffrey Tomich covers energy and the environment for the Post-Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @jefftomich.