SPECIAL REPORT | UNITED STATES
Will the US infrastructure plan look to nuclear?
New US president Joe Biden has ambitious plans to use massive post-Covid investment to upgrade the country’s crumbling infrastructure and join the rush to low-carbon. Will it be positive for nuclear? NEI took a look at the signals
Nuclear Innovation Alliance executive director Judi
Greenwald saw an opportunity in the new infrastructure package, saying in a statement, “Among broader energy sector investments, the plan would support the development and demonstration of advanced nuclear energy, a clean energy technology critical not only for meeting mid-century climate goals but for ensuring a more resilient energy infrastructure in the decades to come.” She noted that the plan, “Specifically incorporates
advanced nuclear energy as eligible for funding for demonstration projects, building on ongoing activities by the Department of Energy and industry to demonstrate the commercial viability of next generation nuclear power.” And she added, “It also calls for the use of federal buying
Above: Joe Biden Photo credit: Spike Johnson/
Shutterstock.com
ON 31 MARCH US PRESIDENT Biden released a legislative package titled ‘The American Jobs Plan’. In fact, its focus is on renewing US infrastructure. The plan kicks off by promising to invest “in America in a way we have not invested since we built the interstate highways and won the Space Race”.
Noting that while the US sits at the top spot for wealth,
but thirteenth on the quality of infrastructure, the plan says that, “After decades of disinvestment, our roads, bridges, and water systems are crumbling,” and promises action. Just a few weeks after Texas suffered weather-induced
blackouts, Biden’s plan says, “Our electric grid is vulnerable to catastrophic outages”. That puts it front and centre of an infrastructure plan that also includes a swing to a low- carbon economy. Biden had already announced plans for the US to rejoin the Paris Agreement — a clear indication that clean energy will be a major part of his agenda. What does this mean for the US nuclear industry? The
USA still has 94 reactors in operation, but they are ageing and facing rising costs as a result, and they face increasing competition from renewables and natural gas. Five are expected to close this year in Illinois and New York.
14 | May 2021 |
www.neimagazine.com
power to facilitate domestic manufacturing of critical technologies like advanced nuclear energy in alignment with a letter recently submitted to the administration by NIA, Google, Third Way, Clean Air Task Force, and other tech and climate focused groups. We look forward to working with stakeholders across the energy sector to support the enactment of these important clean energy initiatives.” That is a callback to Biden’s climate and energy plan, which is also positive towards nuclear. In fact, US commentators note that Biden’s was the first Democratic Party platform in 48 years that explicitly supported an expansion of nuclear energy. Biden’s presidency “bodes well” for nuclear power, Doug
True, the chief nuclear officer at the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), said in an interview.
US commentators note that Biden’s was the first Democratic Party platform in 48 years that explicitly supported an expansion of nuclear energy
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