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Nuclear powerplants are getting restarted around the world: why energy insecurity could actually be helping nations decarbonize.
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With the energy transition and energy security big priorities, countries around the world are employing varying strategies to achieve their goals. Wind, solar, heat pumps, and electric vehicles are some of the top decarbonization strategies in vogue in most developed western nations today. Nations around the world have varying commitments to climate efforts as well as varying prospective on the optimal path. One of the most promising decarbonization technologies, nuclear, has been re-gaining favor in recent years.
The top economies in the Americas, Europe, and Asia all have differing strategies when it comes to nuclear and fossil fuels. Germany continues to favor coal over nuclear, announcing restarts of a few more coal plants in preparation for the coming winter after shutting down its last reactors. China has the most units under construction, but relies heavily on coal for its vast manufacturing base. The US has a lot of operating reactors, but only one is under construction (an addition to Vogle in Georgia), and is awaiting advanced reactor designs to come to market. The picture is more complex than this, but it gives a very rudimentary view into the dichotomies in government policy in terms of nuclear and coal energy. I choose these in particular as they are are the best and worst energy sources in terms of total environmental impact.
Advanced reactors have some time to develop supply chains and reach economies of scale to become a major impact on the global energy market. Traditional large scale designs which have been demonized from past incidents are still active and under construction around the world. What counties are committed to nuclear now, as opposed to advanced reactor designs of tomorrow? Below shows the nuclear reactors under construction worldwide. Unsurprisingly, China leads. The list is followed by India, Turkey, and South Korea, Egypt, and Russia, all with three or more.
In addition to new nuclear reactors, many countries are reviving existing reactors that have been shut down. Nuclear reactors have long lifetimes and have been known to extend far beyond the rated lifetimes as well. Some reactors in the US have reached the 60 year mark and have had their 20 year extensions/refurbishments approved for 80 years so far. For comparison, wind/solar tend to average in the 20-35 year range and have higher upfront material and land costs associated.
In May 2022, the Palisades nuclear plant was shut down in Michigan. This 51 year old reactor was taken over by Holtec who is seeking to restart the plant in 2025 which would be the first restart for the US if approved. Over the boarder in Canada, Hydro-Québec has revaluated restarting its Gentilly-2 plant which would help the province decarbonize on top of their vast hydroelectric resources.
Across the Pacific, Japan was one of the nations hit by a nuclear disaster and spent its time shutting down nuclear as a consequence. The island is highly energy dependent on liquefied natural gas imports and was struck with insecurity and high prices. As a consequence, the country has done a complete 180 and just announced the restart of its seventh nuclear reactor. The nation has already seen a decrease in imports of natural gas, now in favor of uranium.
Further, the only G8 nation without nuclear, Italy, has shown interest in reviving the industry. Nuclear in the rest of the world is sponsored in large part through Russian/Chinese construction. Bangladesh just received its first uranium shipment form its Russian built nuclear plant, a similar theme for countries in this sphere of influence. These are just a few examples of major nations changing tune on nuclear and the whole picture in terms of supply chain considerations of uranium, plant construction, etc. can be seen in Nuclear Tomorrow pt. 2.
While every energy technology comes with tradeoffs, nuclear is pretty good all things considered. After being shuttered for years due to fears about tragic reactor meltdown incidents, a growing share of Americans are in favor of nuclear power in recent years. With some of the top advanced reactor designs coming out of US labs and a potential for the first traditional nuclear plant restart, could the US be in for a nuclear revival along with the rest of the world?
Growing energy insecurity on top of climate goals for many nations are leading to restarting and construction of tradition reactors. Europe, Japan, and developing nations seeking to not repeat what happened with natural gas in 2022 and gain more security over their energy supply. Regardless of the motive, nuclear having zero carbon emissions will help these nations with any climate goals they may or may not have. Even though in many cases it is not the top choice, nuclear power is making its revival. Whether it is for diversification of the energy mix, decarbonization of the grid, or simply growth in domestic energy capacity, nuclear power continues to gain steam. Until next week,
-Grayson
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As we revisit nuclear, again, can you report progress on advanced modular reactors? There ought to be a lot of activity because the path to solar and wind has begun to stall. Past articles show solar remains solid as scale and cost become moralized. Not sure if wind will prove all that useful. Nuclear can help arrive at better hydrogen with all its engineering challenges. But fuel cells are better batteries IMHO.
Thanks for your observations.