The United States recently announced a roadmap to increase nuclear power generation by approximately three times the current level. Photo = Pixabay
The United States has unveiled a new roadmap to massively increase nuclear power generation. The Biden administration has unveiled this plan, but it is unknown whether President-elect Donald Trump will implement this plan when he enters the White House. Nonetheless, nuclear power has garnered strong bipartisan support and is also welcomed by big tech companies, The Verge reported.
Nuclear energy currently accounts for about 20% of total U.S. power generation. This is almost equal to the amount of renewable energy generation in the United States, such as wind and solar power. The remaining 60% comes from fossil fuels. To put this into perspective, nuclear power accounts for nearly half of carbon-free electricity.
Environmental concerns about uranium mining for fuel rods and radioactive waste from nuclear power plants remain significant. However, nuclear power has won support from some environmental groups and the Biden administration because it produces electricity without emitting greenhouse gases. It is also considered a stable energy supply that can replace wind and solar power generation when they fluctuate. Last year, the United States joined an international commitment to triple renewable energy capacity globally.
The White House has set a goal of adding 200 gigawatts of new nuclear energy capacity by 2050, at least three times the capacity the U.S. had in 2020. It started by adding 35 GW of new capacity by 2035 and set an intermediate goal of adding 15 GW per year until 2040.
This is not an easy task. America’s nuclear energy comes from aging nuclear power plants. Most were built in the 1970s or 1980s. The average lifespan of a nuclear reactor in the United States is 42 years. The nuclear industry has received a bad name for major accidents that have occurred at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, Chernobyl in Ukraine, and Fukushima in Japan. And for many years, nuclear power has had trouble competing with a cheaper and more flexible power source: gas.
For reference, 15GW is an incredibly large power generation capacity. The power generation capacity of a typical nuclear power plant is approximately 1GW. In other words, 15GW is the same capacity as 15 nuclear power plants combined. For another example, 1GW has the capacity to supply power to approximately 750,000 households. 15GW is enough to supply electricity to approximately 11.25 million households, which is more than enough to supply electricity to a city.
Georgia’s Vogtle Unit 3 reactor, the first new nuclear reactor built in the United States in decades, will begin operations in 2023. It exceeded the original schedule by seven years and exceeded the budget by $17 billion. Another new reactor at the same site began operation in April this year. Construction of this reactor began in 2009.
Building large-scale nuclear power plants is extremely difficult due to their high costs. This limited the growth of the nuclear industry. The industry’s solution was to develop a next-generation technology called small modular reactors (SMRs). This advanced nuclear reactor is about 10 to 25 percent the size of an existing nuclear power plant, so it is cheaper and easier to build.
The Biden administration’s roadmap to achieve its nuclear power goals calls for building new reactors, large and small. It also advocates extending the life of old reactors and renewing licenses to restart retired reactors.
In particular, Big Tech is giving a boost to the nuclear industry by signing a series of new contracts this year to purchase nuclear energy and support the development of advanced nuclear reactors.
Microsoft signed a power purchase agreement in September to restart Three Mile Island’s nuclear reactor. AWS purchased a nuclear-powered data center campus in Pennsylvania in March. Last month, Amazon announced three additional contracts to develop SMRs in Washington state and Virginia. Meanwhile, Google announced in October that it plans to purchase electricity from SMRs to be built between 2030 and 2035.
Trump is expected to try to thwart the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. But he has been less hostile to nuclear energy in the past. His Agenda 47 says it will “support nuclear energy production by modernizing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, keeping existing nuclear power plants operating, and investing in innovative SMRs.”
However, if Trump takes office again, anything can happen. He expressed doubts about the nuclear renaissance in an interview with Joe Rogan on October 25, saying, “There is some risk in nuclear.” He showed a disregard for the risks posed by climate change. He told Logan, “The biggest problem in the world today is not global warming, it’s nuclear warming.”
Interview with Guest 1: Dr. Samantha Frazier, Director of Nuclear Energy at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Question 1: Can you provide us with an overview of the Biden administration’s roadmap to increase nuclear power generation in the United States? How do you think this will impact the country’s energy mix and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
Question 2: There are concerns about the environmental impacts of nuclear power, particularly regarding uranium mining and waste management. As a director of nuclear energy, how does your organization manage these issues and address public concerns?
Question 3: What role do you think small modular reactors (SMRs) will play in the future of nuclear power, given their potential to be more cost-effective and easier to build? How does the government plan to support their development and deployment?
Question 4: Microsoft, AWS, Google, and other tech giants have recently shown interest in purchasing nuclear energy and supporting SMR development. In your opinion, what are the incentives for big tech companies to invest in nuclear power? And how important is their involvement in driving the nuclear renaissance in the United States?
Question 5: What are the main challenges facing the nuclear energy industry in the U.S. today? How can these challenges be overcome to achieve the ambitious goals set forth in the roadmap?
Interview with Guest 2: Mary Pat Sullivan, Environmental Activist and Founder of the Clean Energy Network
Question 1: As an environmental activist, what are your thoughts on the Biden administration’s plan to increase nuclear power generation in the U.S.? Do you believe that nuclear energy can be a part of a clean energy future or should the focus solely be on renewables like wind and solar?
Question 2: Can you discuss some of the potential environmental impacts of nuclear power, such as the risks of uranium mining and radioactive waste disposal? How can these risks be mitigated or potentially eliminated?
Question 3: Many argue that nuclear power can provide a stable and reliable source of energy when wind and solar aren’t producing. Do you think that nuclear power is necessary for grid resilience or are there other solutions, like energy storage, that
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