Top 5 New Technologies for Clean U.S. Chemical Production

Chemical production and refining play a critical role in producing essential fuels for, power, heat and transportation while also creating vital inputs for a wide range of products such as plastics, fertilizers and pharmaceuticals—key export commodities for the U.S.. Chemical production and refining processes are also the largest contributors to industrial CO2 emissions in the U.S. economy, accounting for 11 percent of energy-related emissions and a striking 37 percent of all industrial CO2  emissions. Those emissions are projected to increase by 20 percent by 2050, largely driven by a rise in demand for chemicals. As demand increases, the U.S. has the opportunity to lead the way forward in clean chemical manufacturing while reducing emissions.

The good news is that clean solutions do exist for the chemical sector. Let’s take a deeper look at announcements to date and what has yet to come.

Mapping the Top 5 Tech Innovations for Emission Reduction

Combining Nuclear with Clean Chemical Production: Seadrift Advanced Reactor
Dow and X-energy have partnered to deploy a groundbreaking small modular, high-temperature nuclear reactor at Dow’s chemical production site in Seadrift, Texas. This advanced reactor, equipped with four modules, is set to reduce site emissions by approximately 440,000 metric tons of CO2  equivalent per year. The project, backed by ARDP funding, marks a significant milestone as the first high-temperature gas reactor to be deployed domestically in the U.S.. Only one other reactor of its kind exists, which began operations in China in December 2023. This first-of-its-kind initiative will help decarbonize power and heat needs for industrial customers, positioning the U.S. as a leader in advanced nuclear technology for clean manufacturing applications. Construction is slated to begin in 2026, with operations expected to start by 2028.

Reducing Emissions with Electric Steam Cracking: Channelview E-Furnace Demonstration
Technip Energies, LyondellBasell and Chevron Phillips are collaborating on the design, construction, and operation of a demonstration unit for an electric steam-cracking furnace in Channelview, Texas. This innovative technology enables clean electricity to be a heat source for the olefins cracking process (a petrochemical process in which large hydrocarbons are broken down into smaller hydrocarbons), which is responsible for approximately 12 to 13 percent of CO2  equivalent emissions. Steam-cracking furnaces, which operate at over 1,500°F, play a vital role in breaking down hydrocarbons into olefins and aromatics — key building blocks for various chemicals. By switching to electric power, the new e-furnace has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90 percent compared to conventional furnaces. 

PET Recycling Decarbonization Project: Eastman’s Circularity Initiative
Eastman is leading the way in plastic recycling with its first-of-its-kind molecular recycling facility in Longview, Texas, which aims to transform landfill-bound waste streams into virgin-quality polyethylene terephthalate (PET). PET is a kind of plastic derived from petroleum and is known for its durability, malleability, and widespread use in various fields (i.e., fiber materials, plastic bottles, etc.). The Longview facility, which has received up to $375 million in funding from the Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, plans to use thermal energy storage coupled with on-site solar power to recycle approximately 110,000 metric tons of hard-to-recycle plastic waste. By doing so, Eastman’s process will create products that have 70% lower emissions than traditional products. When accounting for avoided incineration emissions, this figure rises to 90%.

Advancing Opportunities to Fuel Switch: ExxonMobil Baytown Olefins Project
Exxon’s Olefins Project in Baytown, Texas, is set to revolutionize ethylene production by using hydrogen in place of natural gas. Ethylene is a base chemical that is used as a feedstock for more complex chemicals, like polymers. This project, which has secured up to $331.9 million in federal funding, involves implementing new burner technology capable of using 100% hydrogen. The switch is expected to avoid 2.5 million tons of CO2  emissions annually, reducing site-wide emissions by approximately 30 percent of current operations. In addition to creating 400 construction jobs and retraining 140 workers, this project is a significant step in proving that clean hydrogen can decarbonize large industrial facilities. The successful demonstration of hydrogen fuel switching could provide a pathway for reducing emissions across the entire chemical industry.

Clean Feedstocks for Cleaner Ammonia: Trammo and ReMo Energy Pilot Project
Trammo, Inc., a raw materials distributor, and ReMo Energy, Inc., a clean chemical start-up, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to produce clean ammonia at ReMo’s forthcoming plant in Meredosia, Illinois, which could be the first-of-its-kind in the U.S. ReMo will produce clean ammonia from clean hydrogen at a site co-located with  Trammo’s existing ammonia terminal in Illinois. Trammo is the exclusive off-taker of ReMo’s ammonia. By optimizing the plant design with distributed scale and electrolyzer integration, ReMo aims to build ammonia production plants at a lower cost than traditional plants. This partnership represents a major step toward cleaner ammonia production, which is essential for reducing emissions from agriculture and other industries.

The Path Forward: U.S. Leadership in Clean Manufacturing
As the demand for chemicals grows, so do the challenges and opportunities in decarbonizing the U.S. clean manufacturing sector. By embracing advanced technologies such as small modular reactors, electric steam cracking, molecular recycling, hydrogen and others, America can lead the global shift towards cleaner, more innovative chemical production processes. This is not only an opportunity to reduce emissions but also an economic opportunity, as U.S. producers can utilize their emissions advantage over global competitors, particularly China, to access markets with demand for cleaner goods. Now is the time for the U.S. to build off this momentum and position itself as the global leader in reducing emissions through clean manufacturing.

CO2 Pipelines Are Safe…and We Need a Lot More

You’ve probably heard about a clean energy technology called Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage – or “CCUS” for short.

This is a method of capturing carbon dioxide or “CO2” from emissions sources like power plants and industrial facilities. Another method for reducing emissions is called Direct Air Capture, which removes CO2 that is already in our atmosphere — think a giant vacuum. If we’re serious about global emissions reduction — we need both.

In addition to driving down emissions, captured CO2 is also a valuable commodity.  CO2 is not only used to make your beer fizz, carbon oxides can be used for everyday products like building materials, fertilizer, and fuels. CO2 that is not in use can be permanently and safely stored – usually underground – where it resides for thousands of years. 

Often, when CO2 is captured, it’s not located near an available storage or use site and has to be transported to another location. Today, the best and safest way to move CO2 is through pipelines. 

Pipelines are everywhere – often without us even realizing it. They are beneath our highways, run through our cities, and connect our homes. Other essential resources, like natural gas, water, and waste, are all moved by pipelines. That’s because pipelines are the most land-efficient way to transport materials while minimizing environmental impact.

The Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, also known as “PHMSA”, has long regulated the security of this infrastructure. PHMSA provides national standards for pipeline design, construction, maintenance and operation. These ensure that all necessary measures are taken to mitigate risks and safeguard the well-being of your family and the environment.

Now let’s talk about CO2 pipelines. The U.S. currently has more than 5,000 miles of these pipelines, which have been safely operating across our country for over 50 years. CO2 is a stable, non flammable gas – we know it’s safe. We breathe it in and out every day – it’s even used in fire extinguishers. Over the last twenty years, there have been zero recorded fatalities associated with the very few CO2 pipeline incidents that have occurred. A pipeline accident, like we saw in 2020 in Satartia, Mississippi, while concerning, is extremely uncommon and is not representative of the safety performance of this critical infrastructure over the last several decades.

As demand for clean, reliable, and affordable energy grows, so will the demand for effective carbon management technologies. That means, to meet our energy security and global emission reduction goals, the build-out of CO2 pipeline infrastructure is vital.  An estimated 30,000 – 96,000 miles of CO2 pipelines will be needed by 2050 – that’s roughly 5 to 18 times the length of our existing network. 

We get it, some people are uneasy about new infrastructure. But let’s face it, whether you care about climate change or U.S. competitiveness- we need these technologies. By building CO2 pipeline infrastructure, we are not only building our capacity to reduce emissions and protect our environment, we’re also creating jobs, bolstering local economies, and continuing to use the energy sources that make our country strong. In America, we’re not afraid to build — it’s what we do. 

And, through R&D and innovation, we’ll leverage the efficiency and maintain the strong safety record of this vital American infrastructure.

Let America build – A policy path to modernize energy permitting

Our team spends a lot of time on reliable, affordable, clean energy systems that run 24/7. These types of technologies are an integral part of our energy future, but with a growing economy and electricity demand doubling, we need MORE power.

This means building a lot of new nuclear, geothermal, and clean fossil power plants. We’ll also need immense new transmission and pipeline infrastructure to move energy around the country.

But we’ve got a ton of work to do in very little time. 

Whether you are motivated by deep emissions reductions, furthering our nation’s energy security, or enabling the next generation of American manufacturing, the coming decades are essential. By many estimates, that means at least 10,000 new clean energy projects this decade alone. And, every one of those projects will require new permits to build. 

Unfortunately, the U.S. has a world-class apparatus… for getting in the way.

Let me give you an example. The National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, calls for developers to measure the environmental impact of their projects. But NEPA was passed years before we had other laws with strict environmental standards like the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, or Endangered Species Act. 

Each of those are important — but all together … permit reviews can spiral into extremely long efforts, spanning thousands of pages with duplicative analyses and dozens of bureaucrats required to sign off on each individual project. And, this is not even taking into account the time it takes for any local permitting or state regulations. While this system may have made sense 50 years ago, the surge in new energy demand requires a new way.    

When we think about how to build tens of thousands of new clean energy projects, and how to balance speed and safety, it’s obvious the U.S. needs a more predictable process. 

At ClearPath, we always focus on solutions. Here are two that should be pretty simple: 

First, grant immediate approval to projects on a site that have already undergone an environmental review.

Second, we must expedite court challenges so a final decision on projects is made in a timely manner. 

Let me simplify both concepts.

Do you remember standing in line at the airport before TSA pre-check? That was brutal! Now, individuals who have proven they are not a risk can move through an expedited line.

Here’s another example.

There are mountains of evidence that some projects have little to no environmental impacts, such as an advanced manufacturing facility that produces parts for clean energy on a brownfield, or converting a retired coal plant to an advanced nuclear facility or siting a new geothermal plant at a depleted oil and gas well. These are the types of projects we should automatically permit to move forward.

Just like random screenings at TSA, we can audit the operators to ensure they’re complying with all environmental laws as we go. So new energy accelerates at no new environmental costs.

And for those projects that do need permits up front, we should ensure reviews are complete within 1 year and resolve any legal disputes within 6 months.

Under the current system, clean energy projects can suffer long delays, sometimes decades, largely because of obstructive litigation practices. We must strike the right balance while halting the never-ending cycle of frivolous lawsuits. 

At ClearPath, we believe all of this can be done without rolling back environmental protections or eliminating the public’s opportunity to be involved in the review process. Even with these necessary changes, a project would still be required to comply with environmental laws during its entire lifetime.*

It’s a win-win. Let’s get building.

Vogtle Was a Smart Investment

In April of 2024, the second of two new AP1000 nuclear reactors – Vogtle units 3 & 4 – came online in Georgia. These reactors were an ambitious project, deploying a first-of-a-kind design to provide clean and reliable electricity to Georgia. This is a story of unwavering aspiration and perseverance. Before the reactors were ever even turned on, redesigns, bankruptcies, construction mistakes and more drove the final cost to double what was initially projected, delaying operation beyond the original 2016 and 2017 targets. Despite the challenges, Vogtle is an investment that will pay dividends for decades.  

Building first-of-kind anything is hard, and the true story here is about how Georgia persevered through these challenges and secured a major investment in its future. Georgia made a significant investment in the Vogtle expansion, and in return, they will get clean, reliable energy capable of powering 1 million households and businesses 24/7 for decades to come. One evergreen benefit of this energy is its resistance to price inflation, fuel risks, and global economic conditions. The Vogtle reactors are a gift to the next generation in the state, capable of operating for the next 80 or even 100 years. Few, if any, other energy sources can provide this combination of attributes. 

With the doubts in the rearview mirror, let’s look at the deal as a whole, compared to potential alternatives:

1)Lazard LCOE 2) Department of Energy 3) S&P Global 4) Pacific Northwest National Lab

Incremental additions of solar power are cheap, but say Georgia wanted to procure a similar amount of 24/7 clean power using only solar, the storage required would balloon the price quickly. Solar with additional storage is already about twice as expensive as solar alone, but the attached battery storage only averages between one to four hours of output, as longer durations generally mean worse economics. This means Georgia would still need to build additional generation for “firming,” also known as backing up, to meet required reliability needs. However, even with all of these resources, this still “does not represent the cost of building a 24/7 firm resource.” 

We strongly support a fully diverse grid — one that uses all energy sources. For those who say we can just use all renewables to power America aren’t looking at the big picture. Wind energy in the Southeastern United States isn’t as prevalent as in other parts of the country for the simple fact that it’s just not as windy. That’s why they are using more solar which makes sense. But, today, the largest percentage of 24/7 reliable power is gas turbines, so if Georgia had to use natural gas to back up solar, they would have needed to build four new combined cycle turbines the size of those at Plant Wansley in Georgia.

Today’s affordable natural gas is an innovation success story and has been a boon for the U.S. economy and deserves credit for a 20 percentage decrease in emissions. Natural gas is also low-cost, dispatchable power. Yet despite its strengths, solely relying on new gas power presents challenges as well. For instance, natural gas power is pipeline dependent and more gas would likely require more pipelines — not an easy lift. Gas is also largely driven by fuel prices, so today’s low prices are predicated on low-cost, reliable natural gas supply. This can create a significant commodity risk, especially over the comparable lifetime of a nuclear power plant. 

For example, in Oklahoma, the state finalized a bond that will cost ratepayers $4.5 billion over the next 25 years to pay for gas supply during Winter Storm Uri when prices neared $1,200/Metric Million British Thermal Unit (MMBTU), while today it averages $2-3/MMBTU. In the same storm, Texas paid about $3.5 billion. And of course, to make this important power source low to no emissions, the U.S. must advance innovative natural gas technologies, as well as carbon capture and its associated infrastructure.

Finally, grid planners must also consider the lifecycle of these projects. A nuclear power plant’s lifespan is more than double that of a gas or solar power plant and many times that of today’s battery technology. To cover nuclear power’s longer operating period, new assets will need to be built, potentially several times over. This exposes future power supply both to normal inflation and significant supply chain risks.

Vogtle isn’t the only example where in hindsight, completing a project turned into a good deal. Millstone 3, a 1260MW reactor in Connecticut, had a famously embattled development process, including delays and at least seven cost increases. Today, that plant provides half of all Connecticut’s power and over 90% of its zero-emissions power. While the upfront cost felt high during a tumultuous construction in the 1980s, today, multiple analyses find that Millstone and other nuclear plants like it bring down wholesale power prices in the region.  

Similarly, Georgia paid a high upfront cost to complete the Vogtle reactors. But now that they’re built, the operational costs of a nuclear power plant are relatively small. The fully depreciated costs of existing power plants are about $32/MWh today. Georgia’s power will not just be clean and reliable for the next 80+ years, but also largely immune to price inflation and fuel risk. Like Millstone 3, this may mean keeping future prices much lower.  Industry has responded to this: Georgia is experiencing an economic boom, winning a fifth of all new clean manufacturing projects, and the second–most data center capacity under construction in the country. The ability to provide clean, reliable, and affordable power — like nuclear energy — is an economic advantage, and Georgia just made an enormous investment in its future. The Vogtle tale is one of perseverance and success. Further nuclear deployments – while inevitably cheaper than a first-of-a-kind – will require large investments. These are investments in the future and should be seen as such.

TerraPower Breaks Ground in Wyoming, Clearing Path for New Nuclear

TerraPower broke ground on its Natrium reactor in Kemmerer, Wyoming. This is the first time in four decades that a company has started construction on an advanced reactor in the United States. Natrium is a sodium fast reactor with integrated molten salt energy storage. This exciting 345 megawatt (MWe) reactor can ramp up to 500 MWe, enough to provide reliable, clean power to 400,000+ homes for more than five and a half hours.

TerraPower is building this first plant through a public-private partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP), a concept ClearPath started working on in 2016 in partnership with congressional leaders like U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Idaho National Lab, Oak Ridge National Lab, and DOE.

L to R: ClearPath’s Chris Tomassi (a Kemmerer, WY native), Jeremy Harrell and Jake Kincer at the groundbreaking

ClearPath has played a role over the past seven years in building bipartisan Congressional support for the U.S. DOE’s ARDP. We supported the Trump Administration’s efforts to launch the program and select cutting-edge projects like this, and continue to advocate the program’s importance. TerraPower will be putting clean electrons on the grid by the end of this decade. It is a true bipartisan win for American clean energy. Developing the next generation of nuclear technology now is essential as power demand from industrials and data centers is skyrocketing across America.

ARDP Timeline

For more information on this program, and the long road to get here, check our blog: It’s Happening… US to Build Two New Advanced Nuclear Reactors, from October 2020.

Advanced Nuclear Fuel 201

Congratulations! If you have read our Nuclear Fuel 101, you are already well on your way to understanding the importance of the nuclear fuel supply chain. This second installation goes a bit further, discussing what happens after fuel is used, innovations in nuclear fuel and why new types of fuel are important for new reactor designs. 

Innovative Reactors Demand Innovative Fuel

Most new advanced reactor designs incorporate passive and inherent safety features (like heat transfer) that remove the need for active, engineered safety systems (like a pump or valve). This allows designs to shut down naturally and safely in case of an event, like a total loss of power.

Advanced reactors are designed to be smaller, more affordable, safer, and more fuel efficient. Like other types of new reactors – fast reactors – can harness the energy from used fuel. This could reduce proliferation risks and decrease the volume of high-level nuclear waste by around 85%. Currently, the U.S. safely stores used nuclear fuel at more than 80 sites across 35 states.

Used Fuel Storage and Recycling: The Back End of The Nuclear Fuel Cycle

After nuclear fuel is used in nuclear reactors, there are a few options for managing the fuel.

Storage. When removed from any type of reactor, nuclear fuel continues to emit both radiation and heat. Once the fuel has reached the end of its useful life, the assembly is loaded into a nearby storage pool to allow the heat and radiation levels to decrease. After several years, the fuel may be transferred to naturally-ventilated storage, typically in dry casks like the ones shown below at the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant.

The Comanche Peak Nuclear Plant has provided jobs for 1,300 workers since 1990 and supplies Texans with 2,425 MWe, enough to power 500,000 homes.

Recycling. One factor that makes nuclear energy so unique is the ability to reprocess and recycle used fuel. In a reactor, uranium splits into two new atoms (or elements). Over time, these new atoms build up like dirt on a windshield until the fuel is no longer usable. Used fuel reprocessing removes that “dirt,” giving the remaining uranium a second life. Even after several years in a reactor, the fuel retains more than 90% of its potential energy. Globally, in 2019, recycled fuel replaced the need for more than 2,200 tons of new natural uranium, despite reprocessing capacity being limited to France, the U.K., Russia, Japan and India.

The Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Source: World Nuclear Association

Innovations in Nuclear Fuel

There are a number of innovations in nuclear fuel that are currently in early stage use or research, development and demonstration (RD&D) phases. 

Recycling Innovation: MOX fuel is recycled fuel for existing reactors.

Mixed oxide fuel (MOX) is the second, third, fourth and even fifth life of the low-enriched uranium (LEU) from light water reactors (LWRs). Programs that leverage MOX fuel exist in Europe, Russia, and Japan. MOX fuel has been used commercially since the 1980s, and currently fuels about 10% of France’s nuclear plants. 

Making MOX fuel requires mixing depleted uranium with plutonium. Depleted uranium is the less-valuable coproduct from uranium enrichment. Plutonium is produced naturally in the reactor’s fuel during operation and can be extracted from used fuel during reprocessing. 

MOX fuel can be used in qualified existing reactors alongside fresh fuel. They decrease the overall amount of waste produced per megawatt, reduce the consumption of natural uranium by about 20% with each recycle and can be recycled up to five times.

Fuel Form Innovation: TRISO pellets are the safest form of fuel for advanced reactors. 

Tri-structural isotropic fuel (TRISO) is an innovation in fuel form that makes it impossible for the fuel to meltdown. The idea behind TRISO fuel is to give each piece of nuclear fuel, no bigger than the tip of a pen, its own containment and pressure vessel, two vital safety features in a full-sized plant. This feature makes the fuel durable even at very high temperatures. TRISO particles remain securely intact up to 3250°F, a temperature that exceeds even worst-case conditions in a reactor. For context, high-temperature reactors operate between 1350 and 1750°F, well below the melting threshold for TRISO. The U.S. Department of Defense and NASA both use TRISO fuel for their upcoming reactor programs because of its exceptional safety features.

Fuel Composition Innovation: Thorium-based fuel could be used in addition to uranium. 

Thorium as an alternative source of nuclear fuel has been a promising innovation over the past decade. Thorium occurs naturally as thorium-232. It is slightly radioactive, is about three times more abundant than uranium, and has a half-life that is three times the age of the Earth. In a reactor, it is possible to create more thorium than is used, although economic and technical hurdles remain. 

India has established the long-term goal of a three-stage, thorium-based, closed-loop fuel cycle. Stage one involves pressurized water reactors fueled by natural uranium. In stage two, the used fuel from stage one will be reprocessed to recover plutonium, which will be used to fuel India’s fast reactors. Finally, stage three would involve fueling advanced heavy water reactors with thorium-plutonium fuel. Using thorium-based fuel could help diversify the fuel cycle, however thorium is expensive to extract, and additional RD&D is needed to capture its full potential.

Fuel Composition Innovation: Natural uranium can reduce waste and proliferation risk.

Another potential composition for nuclear fuel is natural uranium (i.e., unenriched uranium) fuel pellets. Natural uranium does not require enrichment, and enrichment infrastructure is required for making nuclear weapons; therefore, if a country wants to reduce proliferation risk, it can opt to use natural uranium as a fuel source. 

Two schools of reactors can take advantage of natural uranium: heavy water reactors and fast reactors. The most famous heavy water reactor design is the Canadian CANDU reactor which first went online in 1977. Canada has exported CANDU reactors to Argentina, China, India, Pakistan, Romania and South Korea. There are 30 CANDU reactors in operation globally. British-designed Magnox reactors also use natural uranium fuel, and have been in operation since 1956. Because natural uranium is unenriched, the storage and reprocessing is more simple and less expensive than for enriched uranium fuel. 

Fast reactors are designed to operate with high-energy, fast neutrons (imagine neutrons moving 9000 miles per second). Fast reactors are less common today than CANDU reactors but dominate the field of advanced reactors because they are up to 60 times more fuel efficient than today’s LWRs.

Recycling Innovation: Fast reactor fuel is more efficient and consumes waste. 

Fast reactors were some of the first nuclear reactors built in the U.S. because they can extract more energy from fuel than traditional LWRs, and can use energy from material that would be considered “waste” in traditional LWRs. The Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-I and EBR-II) test facilities were operational from 1951 to 1964 and 1965 to 1994, respectively. EBR-I was the world’s first plant to generate electricity from atomic energy, and the combined test facilities successfully demonstrated a complete breeder reactor cycle with on-site fuel reprocessing. 

France also took an early interest in recycling fuel in fast reactors. France’s Phénix prototype reactor, which operated from 1973 to 2009, was designed to maximize fuel utilization and recycle all of the plutonium it produced. The recycling facility, the Marcoule Pilot Plant has reprocessed a total 25 tons of fuel from the Phénix reactor. 

Because some of the fuel was reprocessed multiple times, France was able to illustrate a closed-loop fuel cycle and demonstrate the value of the fast breeder reactor system.

What’s in Fuel

Source: Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited

Why it Matters

Fuel form, composition and enrichment level create many combinations of fuel types that could service remote communities, military installations and massive metropolitan centers. Nuclear batteries power our space missions and nuclear reactors power our submarines, but the individual technologies taking advantage of that energy look drastically different. 

Completely carbon-free, nuclear energy powers nearly 20% of U.S. electricity consumption using variations of the same fuel developed in the 1940s. More than 80 years later, new advanced reactor designs are gaining momentum and we could see them in the marketplace this decade. The fuels in development for these new designs enable the recycling of used fuel and prevent the reactor from melting down. Although the U.S. does not currently recycle any used nuclear fuel, in 2022 the Department of Energy awarded $38 million for twelve projects aimed at developing domestic recycling capacity. 

Asking everyone to have a complete understanding of nuclear fuel is unnecessary, but it is important that people understand the magnitude of its potential to provide reliable, clean and affordable energy to our power grid.

The Nuclear Fuel Facilities At the Core of the Industry’s Success

ClearPath is constantly seeking out top private sector innovators, determining the barriers to their commercial success, and helping cultivate the environment that allows them to scale-up. In some instances, there are companies doing incredible work to support a more well known industry, but are less known in the halls of Congress.

What is known – nuclear energy accounts for about 20 percent of total United States electricity generated each year. It’s the largest zero-emissions power source in the U.S. and the industry directly provides an estimated 100,000 jobs. While recent incentives and demonstration programs have created a pathway for more power generation, attention is turning to where we source and how we manufacture the fuel; and, the ever-looming question of what we do with the spent fuel, or as many call it — nuclear waste. 

We recently went out to see firsthand some of the exciting work being done to support the industry from fuel manufacturing to unique waste storage and disposal solutions. The Southwest region of the U.S. is home to facilities like Urenco USA (UUSA), Waste Control Specialists (WCS) and Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), all of which play a vital role in shaping America’s nuclear landscape. ClearPath, along with Third Way and Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy, recently visited these sites to explore the nuclear energy fuel cycle and ways policymakers can expand domestic production. 

Urenco USA – Uranium Enrichment

UUSA, nestled in Eunice, New Mexico, is the nation’s sole commercial-scale uranium enrichment facility. Originally planned for Louisiana, it found a home in New Mexico after receiving overwhelming community support. With a combined construction and operating license issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), uranium enrichment production began in June 2010. 

UUSA supplies roughly one-third of U.S. uranium enrichment demand, a process that increases the concentration of energy-rich uranium in nuclear fuel. Another way to look at this: the amount of enriched uranium UUSA supplies could power every home in the USA for one day every two weeks. Enrichment companies like UUSA could take steps to increase domestic production following the recently passed legislation to secure the American fuel supply chain and ban Russian uranium. 

Waste Control Specialists – Below Surface Disposal
Next door in Andrews, Texas, is Waste Control Specialists (WCS), a low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) treatment, storage and disposal facility. WCS supports the Department of Energy (DOE), private entities, nuclear power plants across the U.S., hospitals and universities. The waste accepted here includes materials from research facilities, hospitals extracting isotopes for diagnosis and treatment as well as military equipment. They have only used 2.6% capacity and can continue operation for years to come.

Front Row L to R: Hamna Khan (Columbia University), Mary Neumayr (Urenco), Amanda Sollazzo (ClearPath), Frances Wetherbee (ClearPath)
Back Row: Niko McMurray (ClearPath), Matt Bowen (Columbia University), Jack Ridilla (ClearPath), Rama Ponangi (Columbia University), Natalie Houghtalen (ClearPath),
Grace Furman (ClearPath), Rowen Price (Third Way)

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) – Deep Geologic Storage

DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) recently marked 25 years since accepting its first shipment of transuranic (TRU) waste in Carlsbad, NM. WIPP’s mission is to provide permanent, underground disposal of TRU and TRU-mixed wastes, wastes that also have hazardous chemical components. 

WIPP is the country’s only active deep geological radioactive waste repository and a global example of responsible waste management, including the site operations and safety and security culture required for the site to operate efficiently. 

The TRU waste is stored 2,150 feet underground in the 250 million-year-old Salado salt formation, which provides a stable environment for the long-term disposal of the radioactive waste. Every year, the salt walls close in four to six inches until the rooms are sealed. This natural process will in time permanently prevent the release of radioactive materials into the environment.

L to R: Jack Ridilla, Amanda Sollazzo, Grace Furman, Frances Wetherbee, Niko McMurray, Natalie Houghtalen

Local Impact

Nuclear facilities provide not only always-on, reliable, clean energy, but they also bring significant value to the surrounding areas. UUSA brings over 240 full-time jobs and 130 long-term contractor jobs, in addition to giving $625,000 annually to support local education, culture and environmental projects. WCS boosts its local economy with 175 full-time jobs and has provided $18.4 million in taxes to Andrews since opening in 2012. WIPP provides 1,700 jobs to New Mexico and, in 2023, invested $500,000 in local education and businesses. Deploying new nuclear energy creates hundreds of new jobs at the power plant and at supporting facilities.    

Supporting energy infrastructure in the U.S. is vital to the health and success of the growing nuclear energy industry. From uranium enrichment to power production and waste disposal, nuclear facilities are an important and beneficial piece of America’s clean energy future.  ClearPath will continue to be on the front lines helping tell the stories of American innovators who are solving the big energy challenges.

Building the Global Nuclear Energy Order Book (RealClear Energy)

This op-ed was originally published by Real Clear Energy on May 22, 2024. Click here to read the entire piece.

The outlook for nuclear power is bright on the world stage. Global demand for clean nuclear energy is higher than we have ever seen. The U.S. and 20 allied nations pledged to triple global nuclear energy capacity by 2050 at COP28, and a multinational survey reaffirmed last year — the world wants new nuclear. 

In Washington, D.C., bipartisan support for nuclear energy has never been greater. Propelled by the House passing the ADVANCE Act 393-13 this month and momentum for passage in the Senate, Congress deserves some credit this year for working to help speed up the deployment of next-generation reactors, fueling hope for an American future powered by clean energy. 

This support is promising, but masks a concerning trend. While the U.S. leads the world in the development of innovative nuclear technologies, the U.S. has fallen behind China and Russia. As of May 2024, Russia and China collectively have 29 commercial reactors under construction. The U.S. has zero. 

The prospect of reinvigorating production in the U.S. is exciting, but we have to think bigger to realize the promise of the next generation of nuclear energy — and now is the moment to capitalize. So, how do we get it done?

Click here to read the full article

A Decade of Dedication

The climate debate sure looked different 10 years ago. 

When I founded ClearPath in 2014, we looked at global temperatures, sea levels and the so-called “100-year weather events.” We studied the data AND watched the political discourse.

And we were concerned. 

At the time, many advocates said we could only solve the climate challenge with 100% renewable energy and by starving the fossil energy industry. They said the government needs to solve the challenge; free-market innovations would be too expensive, and consumers and industry wouldn’t adopt them.

Advocacy for small modular nuclear was limited, few embraced carbon capture as a solution, and other game-changing technologies like long-duration, grid-scale storage were barely a glimmer. 

Thankfully, conservatives knew there was a better way.

Over the past 10 years, the ClearPath family of entities has worked with private sector innovators and leaders in Congress to shape conceptual ideas into pragmatic policy, leading to the construction of real projects. These relationships have led to significant clean energy policy wins – from developing the moonshot Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program concept in 2016 to the inception of the 45Q tax incentive in 2018 and the Energy Act of 2020, which culminated with new legislation like the Better Energy Storage Technology (BEST) Act and the Advanced Geothermal Innovation Leadership (AGILE) Act.

Over the last decade, U.S. emissions have decreased by 15%, more than any other nation. 

That hasn’t happened by chance, conservative clean energy leaders have catalyzed innovation policies:

Did I mention that conservatives in Congress led and supported all these victories?

Where is ClearPath today?
The last decade has resulted in significant growth for the ClearPath family – both in size and impact. We’ve seen an 800% personnel increase and expanded our policy portfolio from primarily a nuclear and CCUS advocacy organization to 11 different policy areas. While we remain steadfast in our core technologies, we have added exciting new areas to our portfolio, such as tackling industrial emissions and agriculture and how we can deploy cleaner energy internationally.

In Washington, people and politics drive policy, and policy refines our heavily regulated energy system. 

Recent polling conducted by Engagious and Echelon Insights shows 88% of voters believe climate change is happening, 74% want their Member of Congress to focus on clean energy, and 60% of voters believe innovation rather than regulation is the best way to reduce emissions.The leadership driving this seachange is remarkable, and here are just some of the federal lawmakers who are meeting the demand of their constituents and have championed clean energy policy over the last decade.

What’s next?

10 years into this dream, we have covered a lot of ground, but we still have quite the journey ahead. Many of the right policies are in place, but we need to get America building again. We need to get advanced nuclear reactors built, we need to capture carbon directly from the air, and we need to decarbonize heavy industry. Energy demand will double over the next decade, and one of the most important efforts everyone needs to get behind is updating our outdated permitting processes. Because if we continue to invest in novel technologies, and ensure that the projects currently under development are successful, then the U.S. will continue to lead the world in adopting clean energy solutions.

I mentioned that in Washington, D.C., people are policy, so when discussing ClearPath’s future, I must recognize how the organization is searching for the next generation of clean energy champions. ClearPath’s Conservative Climate Leadership Program (CCLP) actively recruits individuals passionate about climate and clean energy policy who want to work on Capitol Hill and drive innovative technologies to reduce global energy emissions.

We all hear a lot of talk about a clean energy future, and we know that success means putting cleaner, more affordable, and more reliable energy on the grid. 

If there is one thing you can count on ClearPath doing for the next 10 years: supporting America’s free-market advantage. When American energy works, we all win…

Onward!

Private Industry Bets on Nuclear Energy

Most people think about energy in terms of their own use at home: for heating, lighting, cooking, and more. But, in the United States, residential consumption only represents 16% of total energy use. Commercial and industrial activities use three times as much energy. Power-hungry activities like data center operations and high-tech manufacturing underpin modern technology and must be able to run reliably without interruption. Constant operation means a 24/7 power supply is critical. Industrial processes like steel manufacturing and chemical production, which build cities and help grow food, need large amounts of process heat that is difficult to electrify. Energy is used all around us for more than just keeping our lights on. 

Private corporations across various industries aim to achieve this with an even smaller carbon footprint. In the tech sector, companies like Microsoft pledged to be carbon-negative, and Google aims to operate using 24/7 carbon-free power by 2030. Nucor, the largest U.S. steel producer, pledged net-zero production goals by 2050 to provide a fully clean steel product. Building upon these commitments, in March 2024, these companies announced that they are partnering to develop a business model that will allow them to procure clean electricity from new technologies such as new nuclear. 

While companies seek reliable and clean energy, utilities are struggling to keep up with exploding demand growth. These pressures drive a new trend —  private industry interest in new nuclear energy deployments to power data centers and steel manufacturing.

Figure 1: U.S. Data Center Development Pipeline

Source: 2023 U.S. Data Center Market Overview & Market Clusters by Newmark

Sending an email, searching the web or reading this blog requires connecting to a massive cyberinfrastructure, requiring constant power to operate seamlessly. These energy-hungry data centers contain servers that power cloud computing, data storage and novel AI technologies. A single server rack can use as much power as five U.S. homes, and “hyperscale” data centers house thousands of these servers. Data processing is a significant market for the United States: Loudoun County, Virginia, has more data center capacity than all of China. In 2023, data centers represented 2.5% of total U.S. electrical consumption. Today, grid planners expect the demand for energy in data centers to increase 2.5 times, a stat that has grown quickly since the introduction of AI.

Data giants like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are looking for new, clean, firm power sources, such as nuclear energy, to meet rising demand from data centers. In June 2023, Microsoft partnered with Constellation Energy to provide 35% of the power for a data center in Boydton, Virginia and invested in fusion startup Helion, intending to provide power by 2028. Similarly, Google has invested in fusion research company TAE since 2014, developing research reactors to power its data infrastructure. Amazon acquired a data center park adjacent to the Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant. 

The interest in powering with nuclear isn’t limited just to newer tech companies. More traditional manufacturing companies see promise in nuclear reactors to provide reliable energy and heat for industrial operations in a way other clean technologies do not. Nuclear, like gas or coal, produces electricity by generating heat to boil water. Industrial processes can also use this high-temperature heat, which doesn’t work with non-thermal sources like hydro, wind, or solar.

Figure 2 Nuclear Process Heat for Industrial Applications

Existing and advanced technologies can produce heat at temperatures appropriate for various industrial activities

Source: World Nuclear Association 2021

Other traditional industrial manufacturers like Dow promised to reduce carbon emissions by 15% by 2030 and reach carbon-neutral by 2050. Dow and X-Energy, through the ARDP program, plan to build four small modular reactors (SMRs) by 2030 to provide high-temperature process heat and electricity to their Seadrift production site. The proof of concept supported by Dow’s investment will provide reliable energy while reducing carbon emissions by 440,000 MT CO2e/year. 

Steel production alone represents 8% of energy end-use demand and 7% of total energy emissions. Nucor has turned to nuclear power to augment its production methods. In a series of investments, Nucor contributed $15 million to bolster the NuScale SMR in 2022 and $35 million to Helion in 2023 to deploy a fusion reactor. 

Companies with significant off-grid power needs, such as upstream oil and gas development, are exploring the potential of microreactors. These reactors are small compared to traditional reactors or even small modular reactors (SMRs), but could provide relatively large quantities of reliable power, competitive in off-grid applications. Several microreactor companies are currently working to deploy reactors for these purposes.  

Nuclear energy can be a key player in driving rapid growth and decarbonization in the industrial and commercial sectors. Traditional reactors can already provide large quantities of reliable, clean electricity, while several advanced reactors can provide high-temperature process heat or act as mobile generators for off-grid use. 

The bottom line is private companies across various sectors recognize the importance of 24/7 clean energy, and the potential role nuclear can play in decarbonizing the industrial and commercial sectors while meeting the challenge of rapid load growth. Traditionally, nuclear energy deployment has been top-down and utility-led, but today, power-hungry private industries may serve as the demand driver for new nuclear power. Targeted federal support will allow these private investments to flourish, ensuring America’s competitiveness in the global marketplace.