With nearly a quarter of America's coal fleet expected to retire by 2029, advanced nuclear could serve as a potential replacement for that capacity, but significant hurdles exist, according to a new report from the Bipartisan Policy Center.
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in January certified NuScale Power Corp.'s design for a light-water reactor, the first design for a small modular reactor (SMR) certified by the federal regulator and the seventh nuclear reactor design cleared for use in the US, pushing the technology closer to maturity and commercial deployment.
A September 2022 US Energy Department study identified nearly 400 retired and operating coal plant sites that could be converted to nuclear, and, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center report, with the flexible power output levels of SMRs, developers could match the output of retiring coal plants and equipment capacity restrictions, unlike fixed-capacity nuclear plants. Since SMRs can reuse a coal plant's transmission infrastructure, such an arrangement could also reduce overall SMR construction costs by up to 35% and avoid some permitting challenges, report authors wrote.
SMRs also have relatively small land usage requirements and about 77% of coal plant jobs could be transferable to nuclear plants with no new workforce licensing requirements, making SMRs suitable to replace retiring coal plants.
"Retrofitting otherwise stranded coal power plant assets is an intriguing opportunity for new SMR and advanced nuclear reactor projects to cut costs and reduce construction timelines," the Bipartisan Policy Center report, written by John Jacobs and Lesley Jantarasami, said. "Nuclear investment can help create well-paying jobs, accelerate the deployment of firm clean energy and maintain the heritage of energy production in Coal Country."
But significant challenges remain for SMRs to breathe new life into the sites of shuttering coal facilities, including that operation dates must align for workforce transitions and to prevent loss of transmission or water infrastructure to other projects, according to the report. And while the majority of coal plant workforces could transfer to SMRs with relative ease, nearly a quarter would require extensive retraining or licensing.
Coal plant equipment reutilization may be limited since coal plants tend to have multiple smaller units with lower capacity than what is typically needed for an SMR.
The NRC's licensing and technological infancy also create uncertainties for SMR construction timelines, according to the report. The role small modular nuclear reactors will play in the clean energy transition generally hinges on an uncertain regulatory timeline, industry leaders and experts said during a February panel.
Policy progress
Several policy developments could help smooth the way for advanced nuclear to deploy as coal plants are closed, report authors wrote.
The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act includes tax credits that make advanced nuclear projects and new energy investment in coal communities more attractive to investors.
The Fission for Future Act included in the bipartisan Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act of 2022 authorized $800 million to support coal-to-nuclear projects.
"Collectively these provisions make it attractive for stakeholders and investors to identify pathways for new nuclear projects to efficiently repurpose existing resources while utilizing the unique energy sector skills of coal workers to accelerate and maintain a reliable and resilient clean energy grid," report authors wrote.
Perhaps one of the biggest hurdles for SMR deployment at existing plant coal sites are states with laws restricting new nuclear development, though a few have overturned their bans, including Connecticut, Montana and West Virginia.
Development
SMRs themselves still face development challenges primarily related to cost and executing plans to bring the reactors online, even as some look to them as clean, dispatchable energy solutions.
Nuscale's plans to boost the output of its flagship reactor have had several issues flagged by the NRC, and the company is grappling with rising supply and financing costs for the project. Rival developer TerraPower LLC said in December 2022 that its Natrium reactor would be delayed by at least two years because Russia is the only country that can supply sufficient amounts of the uranium it requires.
And some question SMRs' role in the clean energy transition overall, arguing their cost and timelines make them ill-suited to serve as climate solutions compared with renewables.
Among major electric utilities in the U.S. that include advanced nuclear in their generation planning, most feature it as part of a potential solution to reach broad goals of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and do not forecast those generation sources coming online until after 2030.
Meanwhile, nuclear advocates are urging the Energy Department to support commercial scaling up and deployment of advanced nuclear, including SMRs.
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