Welcome to your Friday Rundown for the week ending Nov. 16. Rundown will take a break for Thanksgiving. But feedback is always welcome at info@clearpathaction.org.
WHERE TO GO NEXT ON ADVANCED NUCLEAR
Idaho National Lab Director Mark Peters broke the news at a Nov. 13 briefing co-hosted by ClearPath and others that GE Hitachi’s General Electric’s PRISM technology has been selected to support the lab and the broader Department of Energy’s Versatile Test Reactor program. This is a major step towards developing adequate U.S. supply of advanced nuclear fuels and materials.
Peters, speaking at a briefing focused on Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Lisa Murkowski’s bipartisan Nuclear Energy Leadership Act, said “there’s a lot to like in NELA about what we need to further nuclear energy.” That includes “moonshot” goals to prioritize action at the Department of Energy and its national labs. “I think we can be much more rigorous about tying concrete goals to our R&D plans,” Peters said.
Pillsbury Law Senior Associate Anne Leidich said NELA is a “great first step” in developing adequate domestic supply of the high-assay low-enriched uranium that will be needed to fuel virtually any advanced reactor being designed. But she said more is still needed on the regulatory front. “There really is no existing capability to produce this fuel,” she said.
The Nov. 13 briefing – co-hosted by the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council, Nuclear Innovation Alliance, Third Way and the Atlantic Council – dissected how NELA would be a comprehensive blueprint for advanced nuclear.
NuScale Power Chief Strategy Officer Chris Colbert outlined how the bill’s initiation of a long-term nuclear power purchase agreement pilot between DOE and utilities could help companies who would follow NuScale’s pioneering work on a U.S. small modular light-water reactor. “We kind of look at ourselves as a trailblazer as being the oldest new advanced reactor company,” Colbert said. “A number of the things are going to help those folks coming after us.”
NuScale, which has a goal to have its first SMR plant operational at INL in 2026, sees power purchase agreements changes in NELA as a “key derisking element” for others who want to follow in the company’s footsteps, Colbert said.
Peters – whose lab is housing testing of NuScale’s SMR – added that next-generation reactors could be scalable enough to be deployed in remote areas. “Let’s take it to Alaska,” he said. “I’m a big fan of small and very small.”
Jane Nakano, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies energy and national security program, noted that the “U.S. is already starting to fall behind” in the advanced nuclear race particularly to Russia and China, where “nuclear is their national focus, both for R&D but also for export.”
Hope springs eternal for action. ClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell pointed out that NELA is a great example of potential bipartisan clean energy legislation in the new divided Congress. Cosponsors on Murkowski’s bill are Democrats Cory Booker, Dick Durbin, Joe Manchin, Sheldon Whitehouse, Chris Coons and Tammy Duckworth and Republicans Mike Crapo, Jim Risch and Shelley Moore Capito.
“That’s quite a diverse set of folks, and I should note they are all returning next congress,” Rich said. “It further shows that not only can nuclear and clean energy policy more broadly be bipartisan, it can be supported for many different reasons, whether it’s to address carbon emissions, our national and energy security, or just to ensure that America remains at the forefront of next generation zero- or low-carbon power sources that will dominate the global export market in the coming decades.”
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Lisa Murkowski said she’d like the panel to vote on Rita Baranwal’s nomination to head the Department of Energy’s nuclear office the week after Thanksgiving. She added the desire for full Senate confirmation on Baranwal and other nominees by the end of the year.
Baranwal told the panel at a hearing on her nomination Thursday that the U.S. “remains at a position of strength but that future is not guaranteed.” She pointed out bipartisan support for advanced nuclear power, including for the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act, which was signed into law this fall.
In an interesting exchange at the hearing, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Baranwal spoke about “moonshot” goals for advanced nuclear and also about how the energy-intensive mining industry could use small reactors to help power their equipment and other operations.
Baranwal’s extensive and senior nuclear policy experience includes as director of the Gateway for Acceleration Innovation in Nuclear effort housed at Idaho National Laboratory since August 2016. Her appointment comes as the Trump Administration is conducting an extensive review of the U.S. nuclear sector. Energy Secretary Rick Perry appointed ClearPath Founder Jay Faison to the Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee, which will offer advice and recommendations on scientific, commercial, technical and programmatic issues to DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy.
IEA: GLOBAL RENEWABLE GROWTH NOT ENOUGH
Nuclear is also needed as a carbon-free source of power in order to meet global climate goals. That fact was underscored by an International Energy Agency outlook released this week that detailed how global renewable power growth alone won’t be enough.
Renewables will account for two-thirds of added global electricity capacity up until 2040, because of falling costs and supportive government policies, IEA projected. That means renewables will generate 40 percent of the world’s electricity by 2040, up from 25 percent today. But coal and especially natural gas will also continue to meet growing energy demand in Asia and elsewhere. IEA said coal represents more than a third of carbon emissions that are already “locked-in” across the world before 2040.
DIVING DEEP INTO ENERGY STORAGE
Storing energy on various time scales ranging from fractions of a second to hours or even days is paramount as the U.S. and world move toward a lower carbon intensity. It can be beneficial to all power sources, from nuclear to solar. The expansion and innovation of storage has the potential to reduce the need for high-cost power during periods of peak demand – such as during the coldest mornings or hottest afternoons – and keeping consumer electricity prices low.
But a number of pieces are still missing for that to happen. Do a deep dive into the promise and challenges facing grid-scale storage options, including some potential solutions ClearPath is putting on the table.
DOE announced $98 million for 40 projects as part of ARPA-E’s OPEN 2018, which is available to scientists and engineers working on a wide scope of transformational technologies. The projects – in 21 states and 9 categories – include targeting grid-scale pumped heat power storage and a stabilized (SFS) Z-pinch fusion reactor concept.
Cheniere Energy is poised to export its first shipment of liquefied natural gas from its complex near Corpus Christi to customers in Europe, Asia and Australia. The company last week reached a 24-year deal to supply LNG to Poland.
NOV. 28 Atomic Wings Lunch & Learn on Public-Private Partnerships in Nuclear Energy, hosted by DOE and X-energy. Speakers include Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), Office of Nuclear Energy Deputy Assistant Sec. Shane Johnson, Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tim Echols and ClearPath Executive Director Rich Powell. RSVP
