Will nuclear power be able to scale up quickly enough to meet America’s energy needs? That’s one of the most pressing challenges for the industry, and there’s no guarantee of success. One major milestone last week, however, offers hope.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted a construction permit for a small modular reactor near Knoxville, Tennessee. The approval means the commission determined that the reactor’s design is safe and that its operator — the Tennessee Valley Authority, a public utility — can begin building, though the TVA would still need an operating license to start generating power.
This marks the first time the NRC has given the green light for a commercial small modular reactor, which, if successful, could usher in a new era for nuclear power. Unlike the hulking traditional reactors of the past, which rely on large-scale energy generation to make sense financially, this new technology goes in the opposite direction: It attempts to shrink the technology, providing less energy per reactor, but with a design that doesn’t take so much space and can be replicated more easily.
The TVA project is projected to generate 300 megawatts, enough to power 240,000 homes. That’s about a quarter of the power produced by America’s most recently built nuclear reactors in Georgia. A government-owned utility in Canada is planning a fleet of reactors using the same design, which it began constructing in April.
Several obstacles remain: TVA, though it has authorized $350 million for the project, is still negotiating with partners on cost-sharing and has not committed to breaking ground. Costs for the first reactor are also likely to be high, though the hope is for them to fall as the utility works out the kinks and builds additional generation capacity.
This project is the furthest along, but about a dozen companies are developing their own smaller reactor designs, often with investments from large tech companies looking to power the artificial intelligence boom. One of them is Amazon, whose executive chairman, Jeff Bezos, owns The Post.
The enthusiasm about modular reactors reflects increasingly bipartisan support for nuclear energy. A decade ago, investing in the technology was risky, since it takes years to develop and therefore needs sustained support across administrations. Now, majorities in both parties understand the need for expanding nuclear power, so much so that Congress overwhelmingly passed reforms to speed up the onerous review process for new reactors.
The NRC managed to issue the construction permit for TVA in 14 months, four months faster than anticipated. That’s the second time the notoriously lethargic agency shocked developers with its speedy review of an advanced reactor. The first, for TerraPower’s proposed plant in Wyoming, was completed nine months ahead of schedule.
Those are encouraging signs of a possible nuclear renaissance — or, at the very least, indications that the industry will succeed or fail based on economic merits, not ideological grounds.
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