By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Energy said on Friday it is seeking input from utilities, communities and advocates as it develops its new program to boost struggling nuclear power plants with $6 billion in credits. The bipartisan infrastructure bill passed last year tasked the DOE with creating the Civil Nuclear Credit Program to distribute the credits to nuclear plants. Nuclear power generates power virtually free of emissions blamed for climate change, but the industry has lost 12 reactors since 2013 amid competition from renewable energy and plants that bur…