New and proposed federal policies to support nuclear plants and a push to rid the U.S. power sector of carbon dioxide emissions could drive major growth in nuclear capacity in the coming years, a top U.S. Energy Department official said Dec. 1.
Achieving the Biden administration's goal to produce net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economywide by 2050 is "not going to be done without nuclear," said Kathryn Huff, principal deputy assistant secretary and acting assistant secretary for the DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy.
"I'm very ambitious that gigawatts of new advanced nuclear could be started, and their construction processes and licensing processes could be moving towards multiple deployments by five years from now," Huff said during a panel at the American Nuclear Society's winter meeting.
Newly enacted and proposed legislation from Congress could also preserve existing plants that might otherwise shut down amid financial pressures, Huff added.
The DOE official pointed to the bipartisan infrastructure law that President Joe Biden signed Nov. 15, which will create a $6 billion civil nuclear credit program to support vulnerable nuclear plants operating in competitive markets. The new law also provides $8 billion to develop regional clean hydrogen hubs, one of which must be powered by nuclear energy, and $2.5 billion to fully fund two advanced reactor demonstration projects.
A separate proposed tax credit for existing nuclear plants was also included in the Build Back Better Act that the U.S. House of Representatives passed Nov. 19. The legislation is now before the U.S. Senate, which could make changes to the bill.
"This is such a critical time and an opportunity that is ours to lose," Huff said. "If we're successful in the next five years, we'll see gigawatts of existing nuclear power plants that are currently economically at risk saved by programs like production tax credits and civil nuclear credits as well as advanced uses of their electricity and energy like hydrogen production on-site."
John Kotek, the Nuclear Energy Institute's senior vice president of policy development and public affairs, echoed Huff's comments. Kotek said existing plant operators are expected to file dozens of license renewal applications this coming decade, while companies such as PacifiCorp and Energy Northwest are looking to new nuclear energy to potentially meet their climate goals.
"I expect you're going to see more and more in the way of interest in new nuclear build in relatively short order," Kotek said.
In a recorded speech for the winter meeting, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said nuclear technologies are "critical in reducing emissions." Although Congress has made "significant progress" on supporting nuclear energy in the past year, Manchin said more must be done.
The West Virginia lawmaker pledged to keep seeking funding for the advanced nuclear fuel availability program authorized under the Energy Act of 2020. Many advanced nuclear designs rely on high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU. By securing more domestic HALEU supply, the U.S. could eliminate reliance on Russia and other foreign suppliers, Manchin said.
"The U.S. must maintain our nuclear supply chain, creating high-paying manufacturing jobs, and reassert U.S. leadership," Manchin concluded.
Kotek said he was pleased to see $500 million included in the House-passed Build Back Better Act to support research, demonstration and deployment of HALEU. With fuel producers awaiting long-term demand to make necessary investments, the federal government has a key role to play in building that supply in the near term.
"Government support for expanding enrichment capacity is crucial to help jump-starting the industry," Kotek said.